Safety and efficacy of reperfusion therapies in acute ischemic stroke related to left ventricular thrombus: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) is a source of cardiogenic embolic stroke. Conflicting data exist in the literature regarding the utilization of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) at the acute phase of stroke in presence of LVT. We sought to assess the efficacy and safety of reperfusion therapies (IVT and/or thrombectomy) in patients with LVT. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients with acute ischemic stroke and proven LVT and divided them in two groups: an intervention group with patients treated by reperfusion therapies and a control group with untreated patients. RESULTS: Between 2009 and 2021, 3890 patients were treated by reperfusion therapies in the Lyon stroke center, 33 of whom (0.9%) had LVT. We identified 27 control patients. There were more embolic recurrences at six months in the intervention group than in the control group (nine recurrences versus three, P=0.03, OR=13.56, 95% CI [1.5;195]). Only two early embolic recurrences (< 24h) occurred, both in the IVT group. There was a 4.8-fold decrease in the median NIHSS score between baseline and 24h follow-up in the intervention group (P<0.0001), and the two groups exhibited similar six-month mortality. At stroke onset, cardiopathy was known in 70% of patients, while LVT was known in 30%. CONCLUSION: Acute reperfusion therapies seem to be effective in the context of stroke in patients with LVT. However, further studies are needed to support the hypothesis that stroke recurrence might be related to the use of IVT.

Comparison of magnetic resonance angiography techniques to brain digital subtraction arteriography in the setting of mechanical thrombectomy: A non-inferiority study.

INTRODUCTION: We performed a non-inferiority study comparing magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) techniques including contrast-enhanced (CE) and time-of-flight (TOF) with brain digital subtraction arteriography (DSA) in localizing occlusion sites in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with a prespecified inferiority margin taking into account thrombus migration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HIBISCUS-STROKE (CoHort of Patients to Identify Biological and Imaging markerS of CardiovascUlar Outcomes in Stroke) includes large-vessel-occlusion (LVO) AIS treated with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) following brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including both CE-MRA and TOF-MRA. Locations of arterial occlusions were assessed independently for both MRA techniques and compared to brain DSA findings. Number of patients needed was 48 patients to exclude a difference of more than 20%. Discrepancy factors were assessed using univariate general linear models analysis. RESULTS: The study included 151 patients with a mean age of 67.6±15.9years. In all included patients, TOF-MRA and CE-MRA detected arterial occlusions, which were confirmed by brain DSA. For CE-MRA, 38 (25.17%) patients had discordant findings compared with brain DSA and 50 patients (33.11%) with TOF-MRA. The discordance factors were identical for both MRA techniques namely, tandem occlusions (OR=1.29, P=0.004 for CE-MRA and OR=1.61, P<0.001 for TOF-MRA), proximal internal carotid artery occlusions (OR=1.30, P=0.002 for CE-MRA and OR=1.47, P<0.001 for TOF-MRA) and time from MRI to MT (OR=1.01, P=0.01 for CE-MRA and OR=1.01, P=0.02 for TOF-MRA). CONCLUSION: Both MRA techniques are inferior to brain DSA in localizing arterial occlusions in LVO-AIS patients despite addressing the migratory nature of the thrombus.

Multifocal arterial wall contrast - enhancement in ischemic stroke: A mirror of systemic inflammatory response in acute stroke.

PURPOSE: Intracranial plaque gadolinium enhancement revealed by high-resolution MRI imaging (HR MRI) is considered as a marker of plaque inflammation, a contributing factor of plaque unstability. The aim of the present study was to assess the distribution of gadolinium enhancement in intracranial atherosclerosis. METHODS: Single center analysis of ischemic stroke patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis of M1 or M2 segments of middle cerebral artery, or terminal internal carotid artery (ICA) based on CT-angio or MR-angio. High-resolution MRI imaging (HRMRI) was performed within 6 first weeks following the index event, with 3DT2 BB (black-blood) and 3D T1 BB MR sequences pre and post-contrast administration. RESULTS: We identified 8 patients with 14 plaques, 4 were deemed non-culprit and 10 culprit. All culprit plaques (10/10 plaques) and 3 out of 4 non-culprit plaques showed a gadolinium enhancement. CONCLUSION: At the acute/subacute stage of stroke, a gadolinium enhancement may affect multiple asymptomatic intracranial plaques and may reflect a global inflammatory state.

Combined life-threatening thromboses and hemorrhages in a patient with afibrinogenemia and antithrombin deficiency.

BACKGROUND: Patients with congenital afibrinogenemia suffer from spontaneous recurrent severe bleeding. While fibrinogen concentrates are known to effectively treat bleeding episodes, thrombotic complications often occur upon replacement therapy, rendering clinical management highly challenging. CASE PRESENTATION: We hereby report a case of combined afibrinogenemia and congenital antithrombin deficiency manifested by recurrent life-threatening bleeding, as well as spontaneous severe arterial occlusion, such as acute coronary syndrome and stroke, and venous thromboses like pulmonary embolism.Secondary fibrinogen prophylaxis is recommended following any initial life-threatening bleeding episode in patients with afibrinogenemia, yet the high associated risk of thrombosis illustrates the complexity of choosing the most effective prophylaxis strategy combining fibrinogen concentrate with antithrombotic agent for optimal protection against the risk of both severe bleeding and thrombosis. For our patient, the thrombin generation assay objectively confirmed her prothrombotic tendency. CONCLUSION: This case may help us better understand the pathophysiology of arterial thrombosis in afibrinogenemia, while highlighting the difficulty of managing such complications.

Safety of early initiation of rivaroxaban or dabigatran after thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke.

The introduction of direct oral anticoagulants (DOA) in the early stage of cerebral infarction after thrombolysis may reduce the recurrence rate but raises safety concern. We sought to study the feasibility and safety of the introduction of rivaroxaban or dabigatran in this context. Thirty-four consecutive patients admitted for ischemic stroke related to non-valvular atrial fibrillation in whom DOA were given within the first two weeks following intravenous rt-PA were studied. A clinical and radiological monitoring protocol was established to ensure the safety of the prescription. None of the patients experienced symptomatic hemorrhagic transformation or a symptomatic recurrent ischemic event after early rivaroxaban or dabigatran introduction.

[Acquired amusia and musical anhedonia]. / Amusie acquise et anhédonie musicale.

Amusia is defined as an auditory agnosia, specifically related to music, resulting from a cerebral lesion or being of congenital origin. Amusia is rarely associated to musical anhedonia. We report the case of a 43-year-old patient who suffered in January 2012 from a right ischemic lesion affecting the superior temporal cortex, in particular lateral Heschl Gyrus and the posterior part of the Superior Temporal Gyrus (Brodmann areas 21 and 22). Neuropsychological tests revealed an amusia combined to musical anhedonia. The specificity of this case is based on the combination of both syndromes highlighting the relation between neural networks involved in the processing of musical information in both its perceptual and emotional components.

[Subarachnoidal hemorrhage and multiple vascular cerebral abnormalities in ß-thalassemia major]. / Hémorragie sous-arachnoïdienne et anomalies vasculaires cérébrales multiples au cours d'une ß-thalassémie majeure.

ß-thalassemia is a genetic hemoglobinopathy, which can cause hypercoagulability, vessel wall damages and thromboembolic events. Spontaneous subarachnoidal hemorrhages are not commonly described in this affection. We report subarachnoidal hemorrhage, observed during the post-partum period in a 27-year-old woman suffering from ß-thalassemia major. Brain MRI revealed complex vascular abnormalities: intracranial carotid occlusion, carotid micro-aneurisms, abnormally developed deep perforators and cortical arteries.

Early Detection of Underlying Cavernomas in Patients with Spontaneous Acute Intracerebral Hematomas.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Early identification of the etiology of spontaneous acute intracerebral hemorrhage is essential for appropriate management. This study aimed to develop an imaging model to identify cavernoma-related hematomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients 1-55 years of age with acute (≤7 days) spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage were included. Two neuroradiologists reviewed CT and MR imaging data and assessed the characteristics of hematomas, including their shape (spherical/ovoid or not), their regular or irregular margins, and associated abnormalities including extralesional hemorrhage and peripheral rim enhancement. Imaging findings were correlated with etiology. The study population was randomly split to provide a training sample (50%) and a validation sample (50%). From the training sample, univariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify factors predictive of cavernomas, and a decision tree was built. Its performance was assessed using the validation sample. RESULTS: Four hundred seventy-eight patients were included, of whom 85 had hemorrhagic cavernomas. In multivariate analysis, cavernoma-related hematomas were associated with spherical/ovoid shape (P < .001), regular margins (P = .009), absence of extralesional hemorrhage (P = .01), and absence of peripheral rim enhancement (P = .002). These criteria were included in the decision tree model. The validation sample (n = 239) had the following performance: diagnostic accuracy of 96.1% (95% CI, 92.2%-98.4%), sensitivity of 97.95% (95% CI, 95.8%-98.9%), specificity of 89.5% (95% CI, 75.2%-97.0%), positive predictive value of 97.7% (95% CI, 94.3%-99.1%), and negative predictive value of 94.4% (95% CI, 81.0%-98.5%). CONCLUSIONS: An imaging model including ovoid/spherical shape, regular margins, absence of extralesional hemorrhage, and absence of peripheral rim enhancement accurately identifies cavernoma-related acute spontaneous cerebral hematomas in young patients.

Worse blood pressure control in patients with cerebrovascular or peripheral arterial disease compared with coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVES: Poor blood pressure (BP) control is common amongst patients with symptomatic atherothrombotic disease. It is unclear whether BP control and management differ across atherothrombotic disease subtypes. METHODS: We analysed the baseline data of 44,984 patients with documented coronary artery disease (CAD) only (n = 30,414), cerebrovascular disease (CVD) only (n = 11,359) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) only (n = 3211) from the international REduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health Registry and investigated the impact of atherothrombotic disease subtype on BP control and use of antihypertensive drugs. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with BP controlled (<140/90 mmHg) was higher in CAD (58.1%) than in CVD (44.8%) or PAD (38.9%) patients (P < 0.001). Amongst patients with treated hypertension, CAD patients were more likely to have BP controlled than were CVD patients [odds ratio (OR) = 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.59-1.75] or PAD (OR = 2.30; 95% CI = 2.10-2.52). These differences were smaller in women than in men and decreased with age. Amongst treated patients, CAD patients were more likely to receive > or =3-drug combination therapies than were CVD (OR = 1.73; 95% CI = 1.64-1.83) or PAD (OR = 1.64; 95% CI = 1.49-1.80) patients. Adjustment for age, gender, waist obesity, diabetes, education level and world region did not alter the results. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary artery disease patients are more likely than CVD or PAD patients to have BP controlled and to receive antihypertensive drugs, particularly combination therapies. Promotion of more effective BP control through combination antihypertensive therapies could improve secondary prevention and therefore prevent complications in CVD and PAD patients.

Multilevel assessment of atherosclerotic extent using a 40-section multidetector scanner after transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The first part of this study assessed the potential of MDCT with a CTA examination of the aorta and the coronary, cervical, and intracranial vessels in the etiologic work-up of TIA or ischemic stroke compared with established imaging methods. The objective of the second part of this study was to assess the atherosclerotic extent by use of MDCT in these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From August 2007 to August 2011, a total of 96 patients with ischemic stroke or TIA without an evident cardioembolic source were enrolled. All patients underwent MDCT. Atherosclerotic extent was classified in 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 atherosclerotic levels according to the number of arterial territories (aortic arch, coronary, cervical, intracranial) affected by atherosclerosis defined as ≥ 50% cervical, intracranial, or coronary stenosis or ≥ 4-mm aortic arch plaque. RESULTS: There were 91 patients who had an interpretable MDCT. Mean age was 67.4 years (± 11 years), and 75 patients (83.3%) were men. The prevalence of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 atherosclerotic levels was 48.3%, 35.2%, 12.1%, 4.4%, and 0%, respectively. Aortic arch atheroma was found in 47.6% of patients with 1 atherosclerotic level. The combination of aortic arch atheroma and cervical stenosis was found in 63.6% of patients with ≥ 2 atherosclerotic levels. Patients with ≥ 2 atherosclerotic levels were older than patients with < 2 atherosclerotic levels (P = .04) in univariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: MDCT might be useful to assess the extent of atherosclerosis. It could help to screen for high-risk patients who could benefit from a more aggressive preventive strategy.

Tacrolimus-related cerebral microbleeds after lung transplantation.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome is a well-known complication of treatment by tacrolimus. We report 2 cases of lung transplant recipients treated with tacrolimus who developed cerebral microbleeds on T2∗-weighted sequences in the acute setting of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. Cerebral microbleeds may be a marker of tacrolimus-induced vasculopathy that may be detected earlier by neuropsychological and magnetic resonance imaging monitoring in transplant recipients treated with tacrolimus.