Grace Under Pressure: Resiliency of Quality Monitoring of Stroke Care During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Mexico City.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability among adults worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared a COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. The first case in Mexico was confirmed in February 2020, subsequently becoming one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. In 2020, The National Institute of Neurology of Mexico started a Quality assurance program for stroke care, consisting of registering, monitoring and feedback of stroke quality measures through the RES-Q platform. We aim to describe changes in the demand for stroke healthcare assistance at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery during the pandemic and the behavior of stroke quality metrics during the prepandemic and the pandemic periods. For this study, we analyzed data for acute stroke patients registered in the RES-Q platform, in the prepandemic (November 2019 to February 2020) and pandemic (March-December 2020) periods in two groups, one prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, there was an increase in the total number of assessed acute stroke patients at our hospital, from 474 to 574. The average time from the onset of symptoms to hospital arrival (Onset to Door Time-OTD) for all stroke patients (thrombolyzed and non-thrombolyzed) increased from 9 h (542 min) to 10.3 h (618.3 min) in the pandemic group. A total of 135 acute stroke patients were enrolled in this registry. We found the following results: Patients in both groups were studied with non-contrast computed tomography (NNCT), computed tomography angiography (CTA), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), digital subtraction angiography (DSA) or more frequently in the pandemic period (early carotid imaging, Holter monitoring) as needed. Treatment for secondary prevention (antihypertensives, antiplatelets, statins) did not differ. Frequency of performing and documenting the performance of NIHSS scale at arrival and early dysphagia test improved. There was an increase in alteplase use from 21 to 42% (p = 0.03). There was a decrease in door to needle time (46 vs. 39 min p = 0.30). After the implementation of a stroke care protocol and quality monitoring system, acute stroke treatment in our institution has gradually improved, a process that was not thwarted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Autoinmune psychosis]. / Psicosis autoinmune.

With the advent of the description of autoimmune encephalitis by different neuronal cell-surface antibodies (anti-NMDAr, among others) and that psychosis may be the only manifestation without neurological symptoms (epilepsy, movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, altered state of consciousness) in 6.5 % of patients, the term "autoimmune psychosis" has become remarkably interesting among researchers. In 2020, an international consensus for the description and diagnostic approach of autoimmune psychosis was created. Through this consensus, by taking different criteria into account, the definition of autoimmune psychosis was proposed at different degrees of certainty (possible, probable, and defined). The purpose of these criteria is to underpin the autoimmune origin in patients who present psychosis with atypical characteristics, thus justifying the realization of laboratory studies and complementary clinical tests (lumbar puncture, electroencephalogram, and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain); in addition, these criteria are applied in patients with psychosis without neurological symptoms that do not fully meet the criteria of autoimmune encephalitis. As in autoimmune encephalitis, the early initiation of immunotherapy has a direct impact on the functional prognosis of patients, so an early initiation of treatment must be considered in clinical scenarios of probable or definite autoimmune psychosis.

Con el advenimiento de la descripción de las encefalitis autoinmunes por diferentes anticuerpos neuronales de superficie (anti-NMDAr, entre otros) y que la psicosis puede ser la única manifestación sin síntomas neurológicos (epilepsia, alteraciones del movimiento, disautonomías, alteración del despierto) en 6.5 % de los pacientes, el término psicosis autoinmune ha retomado gran interés entre los investigadores. En 2020 se creó un consenso internacional para la descripción del término "psicosis autoinmune" y su abordaje diagnóstico. A través de este consenso, considerando diferentes criterios, se propone la definición de psicosis autoinmune en diferentes grados de certeza (posible, probable y definida). La finalidad de estos criterios es sustentar el origen autoinmune en pacientes que presenta psicosis con características atípicas, justificando así la realización de estudios de laboratorio y gabinete complementarios (punción lumbar, electroencefalograma, imagen de resonancia magnética de encéfalo); además, estos criterios se aplican a pacientes con psicosis sin síntomas neurológicos que no cumplen completamente con los criterios de encefalitis autoinmune. El inicio temprano de la inmunoterapia impacta directamente en el pronóstico funcional de los pacientes; se debe considerar el inicio temprano de tratamiento en cuadros clínicos de psicosis autoinmune probable o definida.

Continuous Visual Focal Status Epilepticus as the Primary Presentation of NMDA-R and GAD65-R Autoimmune Epilepsy.

Epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) has changed in its clinical and pathophysiological definition throughout time. Several etiologies have been described in addition to classic causes of EPC. The following case depicts a young woman who had a peculiar onset of epilepsy with a continuous visual aura becoming a form of chronic recurrent and non-progressive EPC. The patient was initially misdiagnosed as a non-neurological entity (assumed psychiatric in origin), but finally, an immune-mediated epilepsy was diagnosed, and EEG showed focal status epilepticus during evolution. Once the diagnosis was achieved and immune treatment was established, the patient is seizure free. Early identification of an immune basis in patients with epilepsy is important because immunotherapy can reverse the epileptogenic process and reduce the risk of chronic epilepsy. To date, this is the only case reported with EPC manifesting as a continuous visual aura associated with antiglutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (anti-GAD65) and anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate (anti-NMDA) antibodies.

Enfermedad de Devic. Reporte de caso y revisión de literatura / Devic's disease. A case report and literature review

Resumen La neuromielitis óptica (NMO) o enfermedad de Devic, es una enfermedad inflamatoria infrecuente del sistema nervioso central (SNC) que afecta predominantemente el nervio óptico y la médula espinal. El mecanismo de la enfermedad es dado por la producción de anticuerpos IgG cuyo principal blanco inmunitario es el canal acuaporina 4 (AQP4), los cuales desencadenan un proceso inflamatorio y desmielinizante en dichas estructuras. Presentamos el caso de una paciente, quien desarrolló episodios sensitivos crónicos fluctuantes con afección visual, sin mejoría con el tratamiento convencional; durante el abordaje diagnóstico se encontraron lesiones desmielinizantes y anticuerpos anti-AQP4 positivos, por lo que se concluyó el diagnóstico de NMO, y respondió de manera positiva al tratamiento con anticuerpos monoclonales.

Abstract Optic neuromyelitis or Devic's disease is a rare inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that predominantly affects the optic nerve and spinal cord. The mechanism of the disease is given by the production of IgG antibodies whose main target is the acuaporine channel 4 (AQP4) that trigger an inflammatory and demyelinating process in the aforementioned structures. We present the case of a patient who developed chronic and fluctuating sensitive episodes with visual impairment, without improvement after conventional treatment. During the diagnostic approach we found demyelinating lesions and positive AQP4-antibodies, this lead to a diagnosis of optic neuromyelitis. A positive response was obtained to the therapy with monoclonal antibodies.