Related factors with orolingual angioedema after intravenous alteplase in acute ischemic stroke: results from a single-center cohort and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Orolingual angioedema (OA) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) with alteplase in acute stroke can be a life-threatening complication. Our aim was to describe its incidence, clinical features, and related factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed a single-center cohort of stroke patients treated with IVT in an 8-year period. We compared patients with (OA+) and without OA (OA-). A meta-analysis of previous studies was performed to identify factors related with OA. RESULTS: OA occurred in 7 out of 512 patients (1.37%; 95% CI 0.86-1.88%). Previous hypertension, diabetes, and treatment with ACE inhibitors were more frequent in OA+ compared to OA- patients (100% vs 58%, p = 0.045; 71.4% vs 21.8%, p = 0.008; and 71.4% vs. 16.6%, p = 0.002). Three out of 4 cases with unilateral OA had a contralateral insular infarct. The meta-analysis included 13 studies: 5720 stroke patients treated with IVT and 209 cases of OA. Factors related with OA were ACE inhibitor treatment (RR 5.33 [95% CI 3.07-9.26]) female sex (RR 1.94 [95% CI 1.24-3.03]), hypertension (RR 2.64 [95% CI 1.79-3.90]), diabetes (RR 1.60 [95% CI 1.16-2.21]), and dyslipidemia (RR 1.46 [95% CI 1.00-2.12]). The effect of insular infarct was inconclusive: positive when considering complete infarcts (RR 1.97 [95% CI 1.18-3.29]) and absent when partial infarcts were also included. CONCLUSIONS: OA occurred in 1.37% of the IVT-treated stroke patients. Previous treatment with ACE inhibitors, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and female sex were associated with OA. The effect of insular infarct needs to be clarified in further studies.

Neurological complications of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients: The registry of a neurology department in the first wave of the pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the spectrum of neurological complications observed in a hospital-based cohort of COVID-19 patients who required a neurological assessment. METHODS: We conducted an observational, monocentric, prospective study of patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis hospitalized during the 3-month period of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital in Madrid (Spain). We describe the neurological diagnoses that arose after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. These diagnoses could be divided into different groups. RESULTS: Only 71 (2.6%) of 2750 hospitalized patients suffered at least one neurological complication (77 different neurological diagnoses in total) during the timeframe of the study. The most common diagnoses were neuromuscular disorders (33.7%), cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) (27.3%), acute encephalopathy (19.4%), seizures (7.8%), and miscellanea (11.6%) comprising hiccups, myoclonic tremor, Horner syndrome and transverse myelitis. CVDs and encephalopathy were common in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to neuromuscular disorders, which usually appeared later on (p = 0.005). Cerebrospinal fluid severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction was negative in 15/15 samples. The mortality was higher in the CVD group (38.1% vs. 8.9%; p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of neurological complications is low in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Different mechanisms appear to be involved in these complications, and there was no evidence of direct invasion of the nervous system in our cohort. Some of the neurological complications can be classified into early and late neurological complications of COVID-19, as they occurred at different times following the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

Pregnancy exposure to disease-modifying drugs in multiple sclerosis: a prospective study. / Exposición a fármacos modificadores de la enfermedad durante el embarazo en esclerosis múltiple: estudio prospectivo.

INTRODUCTION: In multiple sclerosis (MS), foetal exposure to disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) carries varying degrees of risk. We sought to analyse the clinical and obstetric outcomes of MS patients (MSp) exposed to DMDs during pregnancy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Observational study. We analysed the clinical-obstetric data of a cohort MSp, who became pregnant between 2007-2017. They were prospectively followed up during pregnancy and postpartum. CONTROL GROUP: healthy pregnant women (HPW) and MSp unexposed to DMDs. RESULTS: Sixty-eight pregnancies in MSp. Fifty-six HPW. Thirteen MSp were exposed to DMDs during pregnancy. Obstetric outcome: 2 (15%) infants had low birth weight, no preterm deliveries. Fifty-five MSp were not exposed to DMDs: 22 (40%) discontinued DMD before pregnancy, 33(60%) naïve. Five infants (9%) had low birth weight and 7 (12%) were preterm. HPW: 56. Low birth weight 6 (11%), preterm delivery 6 (11%). There were no differences in relapse incidence during pregnancy-puerperium between MSp groups. There were no differences in birth weight, gestation time, delivery-caesarean section. We found no special obstetric morbidity in women exposed to DMDs. CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant differences in the clinical and obstetric variables analysed between pregnant women exposed to DMDs, unexposed, and HPW.