Hemorragia cerebral durante fase ativa de infecção por SARS-CoV-2 em paciente com angiopatia amiloide: relato de caso / Cerebral hemorrhage during the active phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a patient with amyloid angiopathy: case report

RESUMO As alterações neurológicas associadas à COVID-19 têm sido frequentemente descritas, principalmente nos casos de maior severidade, e estão relacionadas a causas multifatoriais, como a disfunção endotelial, a liberação de mediadores inflamatórios (cytokine storm), a disfunção endotelial e a hipoxemia. Relatamos o caso de uma paciente do sexo feminino, 88 anos, com quadro de hemorragia cerebral associada à angiopatia amiloide, no contexto de infecção por SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT The neurological changes associated with COVID-19 have been frequently described, especially in cases of greater severity, and are related to multifactorial causes, such as endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory mediator release (cytokine storm), endothelial dysfunction and hypoxemia. We report the case of a female patient, 88 years old, with cerebral hemorrhage associated with amyloid angiopathy in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Cerebral hemorrhage during the active phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a patient with amyloid angiopathy: case report. / Hemorragia cerebral durante fase ativa de infecção por SARS-CoV-2 em paciente com angiopatia amiloide: relato de caso.

The neurological changes associated with COVID-19 have been frequently described, especially in cases of greater severity, and are related to multifactorial causes, such as endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory mediator release (cytokine storm), endothelial dysfunction and hypoxemia. We report the case of a female patient, 88 years old, with cerebral hemorrhage associated with amyloid angiopathy in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

As alterações neurológicas associadas à COVID-19 têm sido frequentemente descritas, principalmente nos casos de maior severidade, e estão relacionadas a causas multifatoriais, como a disfunção endotelial, a liberação de mediadores inflamatórios (cytokine storm), a disfunção endotelial e a hipoxemia. Relatamos o caso de uma paciente do sexo feminino, 88 anos, com quadro de hemorragia cerebral associada à angiopatia amiloide, no contexto de infecção por SARS-CoV-2.

Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: A Different Kind of Stroke.

When a patient presents with stroke-type symptoms, the correct diagnosis is imperative to determine appropriate treatment. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), a buildup of amyloid proteins on the brain artery walls, is a cause of intracerebral hemorrhage. Improved diagnostic criteria and enhanced neuroimaging have resulted in earlier detection of CAA, which will hopefully lead to better outcomes for these patients. More research is being conducted, and neuroscience nurses need to stay informed about this condition to be able to appropriately care for and educate their patients who are diagnosed with CAA.

Amyloid positron emission tomography in sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy: A systematic critical update.

Sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a very common small vessel disease of the brain, showing preferential and progressive amyloid-ßdeposition in the wall of small arterioles and capillaries of the leptomeninges and cerebral cortex. CAA now encompasses not only a specific cerebrovascular pathological trait, but also different clinical syndromes - including spontaneous lobar intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), dementia and 'amyloid spells' - an expanding spectrum of brain parenchymal MRI lesions and a set of diagnostic criteria - the Boston criteria, which have resulted in increasingly detecting CAA during life. Although currently available validated diagnostic criteria perform well in multiple lobar ICH, a formal diagnosis is currently lacking unless a brain biopsy is performed. This is partly because in practice CAA MRI biomarkers provide only indirect evidence for the disease. An accurate diagnosis of CAA in different clinical settings would have substantial impact for ICH risk stratification and antithrombotic drug use in elderly people, but also for sample homogeneity in drug trials. It has recently been demonstrated that vascular (in addition to parenchymal) amyloid-ßdeposition can be detected and quantified in vivo by positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid tracers. This non-invasive approach has the potential to provide a molecular signature of CAA, and could in turn have major clinical impact. However, several issues around amyloid-PET in CAA remain unsettled and hence its diagnostic utility is limited. In this article we systematically review and critically appraise the published literature on amyloid-PET (PiB and other tracers) in sporadic CAA. We focus on two key areas: (a) the diagnostic utility of amyloid-PET in CAA and (b) the use of amyloid-PET as a window to understand pathophysiological mechanism of the disease. Key issues around amyloid-PET imaging in CAA, including relevant technical aspects are also covered in depth. A total of six small-scale studies have addressed (or reported data useful to address) the diagnostic utility of late-phase amyloid PET imaging in CAA, and one additional study dealt with early PiB images as a proxy of brain perfusion. Across these studies, amyloid PET imaging has definite diagnostic utility (currently tested only in probable CAA): it helps rule out CAA if negative, whether compared to healthy controls or to hypertensive deep ICH controls. If positive, however, differentiation from underlying incipient Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be challenging and so far, no approach (regional values, ratios, visual assessment) seems sufficient and specific enough, although early PiB data seem to hold promise. Based on the available evidence reviewed, we suggest a tentative diagnostic flow algorithm for amyloid-PET use in the clinical setting of suspected CAA, combining early- and late-phase PiB-PET images. We also identified ten mechanistic amyloid-PET studies providing early but promising proof-of-concept data on CAA pathophysiology and its various manifestations including key MRI lesions, cognitive impairment and large scale brain alterations. Key open questions that should be addressed in future studies of amyloid-PET imaging in CAA are identified and highlighted.

Cortical superficial siderosis: Prevalence and biomarker profile in a memory clinic population.

OBJECTIVE: To gain further insight into cortical superficial siderosis (cSS), a new hemorrhagic neuroimaging marker of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), and to investigate the clinical, neuroimaging, genetic, and CSF biomarker profile of cSS in a large, consecutive memory clinic series. METHODS: We included 1,504 memory clinic patients undergoing dementia investigation including a brain MRI in our center. Routine CSF biomarker analysis was performed in 1,039 patients and APOE genotyping in 520 patients. MRIs were systematically evaluated for presumed marker of small vessel disease: cSS, cerebral microbleeds, enlarged perivascular spaces, white matter hyperintensities, and lacunes. RESULTS: cSS was detected in 40 patients (2.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-3.6); cSS was focal in 33 cases (2.2%; 95% CI 1.5-3.1) and disseminated in 7 (0.5%; 95% CI 0.2-1). Vascular dementia had the highest cSS prevalence (13%; 95% CI 5.4-24.9), followed by Alzheimer disease (5%; 95% CI 3.1-7.5). The most commonly affected area was the occipital lobe (70%; 95% CI 53.5-83.4). cSS was associated with lobar cerebral microbleeds (odds ratio [OR] 7.9; 95% CI 3.4-18.1; p < 0.001), high-degree centrum semiovale perivascular spaces (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.2-2.6; p = 0.008), and white matter hyperintensities (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.0-2.2; p = 0.062). APOE ε4/4 genotype was more common in cSS cases compared to those without. CSF ß-amyloid 42 was lower in patients with cSS (coefficient -0.09; 95% CI -0.15 to -0.03; p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Our large series of memory clinic patients provides evidence that cSS is related to cerebrovascular disease and may be a manifestation of severe CAA, even in patients without intracerebral hemorrhage.