[Diffusion-weighted imaging hyperintensity is reversible in large middle cerebral artery infarction following thrombectomy:a case report].

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is currently the most sensitive technique to diagnose early ischemic stroke. DWI signal hyperintensity is usually considered to suggest irreversible infarct core, but recent studies demonstrated that DWI hyperintensity signal could be reversible on small embolic lesions. Herein we present a case in a 63-year-old male patient, who was admitted to the emergency department with altered mental status and complaint of weakness in the left arm and leg 6.8 h prior to the admission. Emergency cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and angiography (MRA) revealed occlusion of his right middle cerebral artery (MCA) and large lesions on DWI. The patient underwent intra-artery thrombectomy after evaluation in spite of the large volume of the DWI lesions up to 91.5 mL at the baseline. His right MCA was recanalized at 8.5 h from symptom onset. One week after the procedure, the patient showed reduced DWI lesion volume to 11.58 mL. In this case we observed the reversibility of a large lesion of the anterior artery circulation presenting with hyperintensity on DWI, suggesting that the clinical implication of DWI hyperintensity should be interpreted with caution, and a large volume of baseline DWI hyperintensity may not be a contraindication to thrombectomy. This conclusion, however, awaits further validation by future large-scale randomized controlled trials.

[Mismatch of ASPECTS based on arterial spin labeling and diffusion-weighted imaging as an indicator for mechanical thrombectomy in patients with wake-up stroke].

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the outcomes of wake-up stroke (WUS) patients with occlusion of large vessel occlusion (LVO), who were selected for mechanical thrombectomy according to the mismatch of Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) based on arterial spin labeling (ASL) and diffusion-weighted image (DWI) on admission magnetic resonance (MR) scans. METHODS: Twelve consecutive WUS patients with acute LVO of the anterior circulation undergoing MR scans with ASL and DWI prior to thrombectomy were retrospectively evaluated. The mismatch of ASPECTS was defined as the difference between ASL-ASPECTS and DWI-ASPECTS, and a higher score indicates a greater mismatch. RESULTS: The procedures led to successful reperfusion in all the cases (Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction Grade 2b-3). Eleven patients (91.7%) had significantly decreased National Institute of Health Stroke scale (NIHSS) score at discharge.AmRS score of ≤2 at 90 days was achieved in 8 of the 12 patients (66.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The mismatch between ASPECTS assessed based on ASL and DWI can detect a true mismatch in patients with acute LVO of the anterior circulation, and can be used for rapid screening of patients eligible for thrombectomy.

Realization of a comprehensive non-invasive detection of intracranial pressure analyzer based upon FVEP and TCD.

Up to now, several methods, such as flash visual evoked potential (FVEP) and transcranial Doppler (TCD), have been studied with regard to assessing intracranial pressure (ICP) non-invasively. However, there are still no instruments that are readily available for non-invasive measurement of ICP in clinical practice. Based on the advantages of FVEP and TCD for ICP assessment, the two methods are synthesized to develop a specific instrument to non-invasively measure ICP more reliably and applicably, as the integration of FVEP and TCD overcomes the shortcomings of a single method of ICP measurement.