Predicting cerebral edema in ischemic stroke patients.

OBJECTIVES: To produce a scoring system for predicting the development of edema in ischemic stroke patients without edema on admission. METHODS: This retrospective study included 572 ischemic stroke patients (73.3 ± 13.0 years, 300 male) without signs of cerebral edema on the first CT scan, which was performed on admission. Another scan was normally performed 3 days later, and subsequently whenever needed. Edema was defined as cerebral hypodensity with compression of lateral ventricles. The main clinical, laboratory, and instrumental variables obtained during the first 24 h were related to the appearance of edema on the CT scans performed after the first one. RESULTS: Cerebral edema occurred in 158 patients (27.6%) after a median time of 4 days. The variables independently associated with edema development were (odds ratio, 95% CI) the following: (1) total anterior circulation syndrome (4.20, 2.55-6.93; P < 0.0001), (2) hyperdense appearance of middle cerebral artery (4.12, 2.03-8.36; P = 0.0001), (3) closed eyes (2.53, 1.39-4.60; P = 0.002), (4) vomiting (3.53, 1.45-8.60; P = 0.006), (5) lacunar cerebral syndrome (0.36, 0.17-0.77; P = 0.008); and (6) white matter lesions (0.53, 0.33-0.86; P = 0.01). Counting one positive point for the first four variables and one negative point for the last two variables, a scoring system (E-score) was built. Cerebral edema could be predicted when the score was ≥ 1 (positive predictive value 61.6%, specificity 85.3%, sensitivity 62.0%). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.78. CONCLUSIONS: In ischemic stroke patients, six variables obtained during the first 24 h of hospitalization were predictive of subsequent cerebral edema development.

Hypertension and Other Determinants of White Matter Lesions in Stroke Patients.

Hypertension is the main risk factor for both white matter lesions (WMLs) and stroke, but many stroke patients do not have WMLs. To find specific determinants of WMLs, the authors assessed 321 ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients who had undergone echocardiography. The patients with WMLs (n=160) were more often hypertensive and had a higher systolic blood pressure than the patients without WMLs. However, in a multivariate analysis, only the following variables remained associated with WMLs: (1) age: odds ratio [OR], 1.08 per year (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.11); (2) left ventricular relative wall thickness (RWT) ≥0.52: OR, 2.78 (95% CI, 1.59-4.88); (3) lacunar strokes: OR, 4.15 (95% CI, 1.83-9.44); (4) hemorrhagic strokes: OR, 5.36 (95% CI, 1.57-18.39); and (5) female: OR, 1.91 (95% CI, 1.12-3.27). Thus, the main modifiable risk factor for WMLs was RWT, which proved to be an even stronger risk factor than hypertension. This suggests that RWT might be a useful target in the treatment of hypertension to counteract the appearance of WMLs.

Hourglass cystic schwannoma of the trochlear nerve.

Cranial nerves' schwannomas most commonly arise from the vestibular nerve. Involvement of other cranial nerves, in absence of neurofibromatosis, is extremely rare. A case of a pathology proven trochlear nerve schwannoma, with internal cystic components, in a patient with isolated right superior oblique muscle palsy, is described. Only 67 cases of such entity have been previously reported in the literature.

Endovascular treatment of intracranial arterio-venous malformations with Onyx embolization: preliminary experience.

PURPOSE: Intracranial arterio-venous malformations (AVM) often represent a complex clinical problem as regards indications to treatment, the choice of treatment and the technical difficulties related to treatment. In the last twenty years, endovascular treatment of intracranial arterio-venous malformations was primarily based on an acrylic glue (Hystoacril) whose endovascular use is not free from risks. A new product for endovascular embolization, named ONYX, has been recently been made commercially available. It is a bio-compatible liquid polymer that precipitates and solidifies in contact with blood, thus forming a soft and spongy embolus. The aim of this study was to evaluate our preliminary results in the endovascular embolization of intracranial AVM with Onyx. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients were treated (7 men, 3 women; mean age: 29 years, range: 12-48 years) for a total of 37 embolizations, 22 with Onyx and 15 with acrylic resin. RESULTS: Nidus occlusion was complete in 2 cases, >90% in 2 cases, >50 and <90% in 3 cases and <50% in the remaining 3 cases. The following complications were recorded: two transient and one mild permanent neurological deficits, two clinically silent cases of moderate subarachnoid haemorrhage, four catheters glued to the injection site, three cases of treatment discontinuation due to continuous and massive reflux of Onyx into the afferent artery peduncle. CONCLUSIONS: This early experience showed that while Onyx has good embolization potential it also presents some disadvantages, which need to be overcome before this product can be considered easy and safe to use on a large scale.