Stroke and stroke risk factors in women of reproductive age with a history of metabolic or bariatric surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the odds of stroke in women of reproductive age who have had metabolic or bariatric surgery (MBS). METHODS: We used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS), a publicly available dataset that samples 20% of hospital discharges. The study population includes women between the ages of 20 and 44 without a maternal admission code. Weighted logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the odds of stroke in women with history of MBS compared to other women of reproductive age. Adjustment of odds was done for the following covariates: age, race, primary payer, severity of illness, depression, and obesity. RESULTS: Women with a history of MBS had 52% lower adjusted odds of having a stroke than women who did not have MBS (OR = 0.48, 95%CI = 0.42-0.55). Additionally, women who had MBS had lower odds of risk factors for stroke, including diabetes (OR = 0.61, 95%CI = 0.59-0.63), hypertension (OR = 0.82, 95%CI = 0.81-0.84), hypercholesterolemia (OR=0.72, 95%CI =0.68-0.77), and migraine with aura (OR = 0.86, 95%CI = 0.74-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Among women of reproductive age with a history of MBS, there were lower odds of having a stroke and stroke risk factors when compared to women who did not have MBS. Additionally, this study showed a modest decrease in the odds of stroke among women with obesity when adjusted for other risk factors. Future research should focus on examining this finding further, with a focus on the moderation of the impact of having obesity on stroke risk independent of other stroke risk factors.

An Incidental Finding of Ecchordosis Physaliphora in a Case of Abducens Nerve Palsy: Case Report.

Ecchordosis physaliphora (EP) is a rare non-malignant mass that originates from remains of the notochord and is typically asymptomatic. A 42-year-old man presented with sudden onset of painless horizontal diplopia and his neurological exam showed sixth cranial nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) identified a non-enhanced retroclival mass (EP) with increased signal intensity on T2 and decreased signal intensity on T1-weighted sequences. He was treated with methylprednisolone, completely recovered in four weeks and has remained symptom free. Conservative management should be attempted before surgery in all cases since symptoms can resolve spontaneously and EP could be an incidental finding.

Stroke-related risk factors during pregnancy in women who underwent metabolic and bariatric surgery compared with women who have not undergone metabolic and bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Stroke during pregnancy is rare, occurring in 30 of 100,000 pregnancies and accounting for 7% of maternal deaths in the United States from 2016 to 2018. Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) has been shown to reduce symptoms of chronic conditions that are risk factors for stroke, including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes in women. However, little is known about the impact of MBS on stroke risk during pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: To examine stroke and stroke risk factors including preeclampsia, eclampsia, gestational hypertension, and embolism/thrombosis in women of reproductive age who have had MBS. SETTING: We used the National Inpatient Sample, a publicly available data set from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project that samples 20% of hospital discharges in the United States. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included women between the ages of 20 and 44 years who had a maternal admission code. Weighted logistic regression was conducted to assess the odds of stroke and stroke risk factors in women with a history of MBS compared with other women of reproductive age. RESULTS: Women with a history of MBS have 12% lower adjusted odds of developing preeclampsia/eclampsia and 10% lower adjusted odds of gestational hypertension than women who did not undergo MBS. When stratified by race, the difference was significant in White women (preeclampsia/eclampsia: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = .89; 95% confidence interval [CI], .81-.98; gestational hypertension: aOR = .91; 95% CI, .83-1.00). Latinas with MBS had significantly lower odds of preeclampsia/eclampsia (aOR = .75; 95% CI, .64-.90). CONCLUSIONS: MBS helps women lose weight and decrease the incidence of some pregnancy-related risk factors for stroke. However, there is a notable racial health disparity.

Acute Psychosis as Main Manifestation of Central Pontine Myelinolysis.

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) is an acute demyelinating neurological disorder affecting primarily the central pons and is frequently associated with rapid correction of hyponatremia. Common clinical manifestations of CPM include spastic quadriparesis, dysarthria, pseudobulbar palsy, and encephalopathy of various degrees; however, coma, "locked-in" syndrome, or death can occur in most severe cases. Rarely, CPM presents with neuropsychiatric manifestations, such as personality changes, acute psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, or catatonia, typically associated with additional injury to the brain, described as extrapontine myelinolysis (EPM). We present a patient with primarily neuropsychiatric manifestations of CPM, in the absence of focal neurologic deficits or radiographic extrapontine involvement. A 51-year-old female without significant medical history presented with dizziness, frequent falls, diarrhea, generalized weakness, and weight loss. Physical examination showed no focal neurological deficits. Laboratory data showed severe hyponatremia, which was corrected rather rapidly. Subsequently, the patient developed symptoms of an acute psychotic illness. Initial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was unremarkable, although a repeat MRI two weeks later revealed changes compatible with CPM. This case demonstrates that acute psychosis might represent the main manifestation of CPM, especially in early stages of the disease, which should be taken into consideration when assessing patients with acute abnormalities of sodium metabolism.