Sickle Cell Trait and Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Young Adults.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Approximately 8% of Blacks have sickle cell trait (SCT), and there are conflicting reports from recent cohort studies on the association of SCT with ischemic stroke (IS). Most prior studies focused on older populations, with few data available in young adults. METHODS: A population-based case-control study of early-onset IS was conducted in the Baltimore-Washington region between 1992 and 2007. From this study, 342 Black IS cases, ages 15 to 49, and 333 controls without IS were used to examine the association between SCT and IS. Each participant's SCT status was established by genotyping and imputation. For analysis, χ2 tests and logistic regression models were performed with adjustment for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: Participants with SCT (n=55) did not differ from those without SCT (n=620) in prevalence of hypertension, previous myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, and current smoking status. Stroke cases had increased prevalence in these risk factors compared with controls. We did not find an association between SCT and early-onset IS in our overall population (odds ratio=0.9 [95% CI, 0.5-1.7]) or stratified by sex in males (odds ratio=1.26 [95% CI, 0.56-2.80]) and females (odds ratio=0.67 [95% CI, 0.28-1.69]). CONCLUSIONS: Our data did not find evidence of increased risk of early-onset stroke with SCT.

Transition of European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study III results to clinical practice: ninety-day outcomes in a US cohort.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS) III showed benefit of intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke 3 to 4.5 hours from onset in selected patients from Europe, with this extended treatment subsequently recommended by the American Stroke Association. We prospectively enrolled patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator, during the time this recommendation was being applied in clinical practice to determine safety and efficacy in a representative cohort from the United States. METHODS: Patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator were enrolled at 18 primary stroke centers throughout Maryland, including community hospitals and academic medical centers. Patients grouped by time to treatment (≤3 versus 3-4.5 hours) were compared for the presence of exclusion criteria from ECASS III that are not standard practice in the United States for ≤3 hours (age, >80 years; history of stroke and diabetes mellitus; oral anticoagulant treatment; and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, >25). Outcomes included good function at 90 days (modified Rankin Scale, 0-1 and 0-2), mortality, and symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. RESULTS: In the 3- to 4.5-hour treatment group, there were significantly fewer patients aged>80 years and no patients with the combination of stroke and diabetes mellitus. There were no statistically significant differences by time to treatment in symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage, mortality, or functional outcome. CONCLUSIONS: For patients treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator 3 to 4.5 hours from onset in everyday practice in the United States, there is no evidence for increased risk or worse outcomes compared with standard treatment≤3 hours.

Altered taste and stroke: a case report and literature review.

Patients with altered taste perception following stroke are at risk for malnutrition and associated complications that may impede recovery and adversely affect quality of life. Such deficits often induce and exacerbate depressive symptomatology, which can further hamper recovery. It is important for clinicians and rehabilitation specialists to monitor stroke patients for altered taste perception so that this issue can be addressed. The authors present the case of a patient who experienced an isolated ischemic infarct affecting a primary cortical taste area. This case is unusual in that the isolated injury allowed the patient to remain relatively intact cognitively and functionally, and thus able to accurately describe her taste-related deficits. The case is further used to describe the relevant neurological taste pathways and review potential taste-related therapies.

Secondary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Causing Hemorrhagic Encephalomyelitis and Spinal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Case Report.

We are writing to present an interesting and novel case from our practice of a patient who presented with altered mental status and a rapidly progressive paraplegia as well as high fevers and pancytopenia. A bone marrow biopsy was diagnostic of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and MRI showed hemorrhagic encephalitis and spinal subarachnoid hemorrhage. This case demonstrates the diverse neurological symptoms with which HLH presents, including spinal cord pathology. The astute neurologist should consider this diagnosis in the appropriate clinical context and diagnosis may require imaging to the complete neuraxis.