Early head CT in post-cardiac arrest patients: A helpful tool or contributor to self-fulfilling prophecy?

OBJECTIVE: Neuroprognostication guidelines suggest that early head computed tomography (HCT) might be useful in the evaluation of cardiac arrest (CA) patients following return of spontaneous circulation. We aimed to determine the impact of early HCT, performed within the first 6 h following CA, on decision-making following resuscitation. METHODS: We identified a cohort of initially unconscious post-CA patients at a tertiary care academic medical center from 2012 to 2017. Variables pertaining to demographics, CA details, post-CA care, including neuroimaging and neurophysiologic testing, were abstracted retrospectively from the electronic medical records. Changes in management resulting from HCT findings were recorded. Blinded board-certified neurointensivists adjudicated HCT findings related to hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI) burden. The gray-white matter ratio (GWR) was also calculated. RESULTS: Of 302 patients, 182 (60.2%) underwent HCT within six hours of CA (early HCT group). Approximately 1 in 4 early HCTs were abnormal (most commonly HIBI changes; 78.7%, n = 37), which resulted in a change in management in nearly half of cases (46.8%, n = 22). The most common changes in management were de-escalation in care [including transition to do not resuscitate status), withholding targeted temperature management, and withdrawal of life sustaining therapy (WLST)]. In cases with radiographic HIBI, mean [standard deviation] GWR was lower (1.20 [0.10] vs 1.30 [0.09], P < 0.001) and progression to brain death was higher (44.4% vs 2.9%; P < 0.001). The inter-rater reliability (IRR) of early HCT to determine presence of HIBI between radiology and three neurointensivists had a wide range (κ 0.13-0.66). CONCLUSION: Early HCT identified abnormalities in 25% of cases and frequently influenced therapeutic decisions. Neuroimaging interpretation discrepancies between radiology and neurointensivists are common and agreement on severity of HIBI on early HCT is poor (k 0.11).

Treatments Administered to the First 9152 Reported Cases of COVID-19: A Systematic Review.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2/2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has created a global pandemic with no approved treatments or vaccines. Many treatments have already been administered to COVID-19 patients but have not been systematically evaluated. We performed a systematic literature review to identify all treatments reported to be administered to COVID-19 patients and to assess time to clinically meaningful response for treatments with sufficient data. We searched PubMed, BioRxiv, MedRxiv, and ChinaXiv for articles reporting treatments for COVID-19 patients published between 1 December 2019 and 27 March 2020. Data were analyzed descriptively. Of the 2706 articles identified, 155 studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 9152 patients. The cohort was 45.4% female and 98.3% hospitalized, and mean (SD) age was 44.4 years (SD 21.0). The most frequently administered drug classes were antivirals, antibiotics, and corticosteroids, and of the 115 reported drugs, the most frequently administered was combination lopinavir/ritonavir, which was associated with a time to clinically meaningful response (complete symptom resolution or hospital discharge) of 11.7 (1.09) days. There were insufficient data to compare across treatments. Many treatments have been administered to the first 9152 reported cases of COVID-19. These data serve as the basis for an open-source registry of all reported treatments given to COVID-19 patients at www.CDCN.org/CORONA . Further work is needed to prioritize drugs for investigation in well-controlled clinical trials and treatment protocols.

Race/ethnicity influences outcomes in young adults with supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the predictors of functional outcome in young patients enrolled in a multiethnic study of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: The Ethnic/Racial Variations in Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ERICH) study is a prospective multicenter study of ICH among adult (age ≥18 years) non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic participants. The study recruited 1,000 participants per racial/ethnic group. The present study utilized the subset of ERICH participants aged <50 years with supratentorial ICH. Functional outcome was ascertained using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with poor outcome (mRS 4-6), and analyses were compared by race/ethnicity to identify differences across these groups. RESULTS: Of the 3,000 patients with ICH enrolled in ERICH, 418 were studied (mean age 43 years, 69% male), of whom 48 (12%) were white, 173 (41%) were black, and 197 (47%) were Hispanic. For supratentorial ICH, black participants (odds ratio [OR], 0.42; p = 0.046) and Hispanic participants (OR, 0.34; p = 0.01) had better outcomes than white participants after adjustment for other factors associated with poor outcome: age, baseline disability, admission blood pressure, admission Glasgow Coma Scale score, ICH volume, deep ICH location, and intraventricular extension. CONCLUSIONS: In young patients with supratentorial ICH, black and Hispanic race/ethnicity is associated with better functional outcomes, compared with white race. Additional studies are needed to identify the biological and social mediators of this association.

Differential outcomes following successful resuscitation in cardiac arrest due to drug overdose.

BACKGROUND: Data pertaining to clinical characteristics and outcomes of cardiac arrest (CA) due to drug overdose (ODCA) are limited. We hypothesized that patients with ODCA would have binary outcomes (brain death or functional recovery) compared to patients in whom CA was due to another etiology. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of CA cases from a single academic institution from 2012 to 2017. ODCA cases were ascertained by admission notes strongly suggestive of OD or positive toxicology screens not explained by medication administration. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were extracted from medical records, and regression modeling was used to compare ODCA and non-ODCA patients. RESULTS: Of the 300 CA cases in this analysis, 28 (9%) were attributed to drug overdose, with opioids accounting for 54%. ODCA patients were younger, had fewer comorbidities, were less likely to have witnessed arrests or bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and had longer downtimes. Inpatient mortality did not differ between cohorts (79% ODCA, 73% non-ODCA, p = 0.66), but ODCA was associated with higher rates of brain death (43%, 6%, p < 0.001). Of patients who survived to discharge, there was no difference in the likelihood of favorable neurological recovery, defined as Cerebral Performance Category score of 1-2 (7%, 7%, p = 1.00) or modified Rankin Scale score of 0-3 (7%, 9%, p = 1.00). CONCLUSIONS: Despite similar neurological recovery and survival rates to hospital discharge, ODCA patients were more likely than non-ODCA patients to progress to brain death. Larger prospective studies analyzing ODCA are needed to better understand potential treatment options and prognostic tools in this cohort.

Minority Patients are Less Likely to Undergo Withdrawal of Care After Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Prior studies of patients in the intensive care unit have suggested racial/ethnic variation in end-of-life decision making. We sought to evaluate whether race/ethnicity modifies the implementation of comfort measures only status (CMOs) in patients with spontaneous, non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: We analyzed data from the Ethnic/Racial Variations of Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ERICH) study, a prospective cohort study specifically designed to enroll equal numbers of white, black, and Hispanic subjects. ICH patients aged ≥ 18 years were enrolled in ERICH at 42 hospitals in the USA from 2010 to 2015. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were implemented to evaluate the association between race/ethnicity and CMOs after adjustment for potential confounders. RESULTS: A total of 2705 ICH cases (912 black, 893 Hispanic, 900 white) were included in this study (mean age 62 [SD 14], female sex 1119 [41%]). CMOs patients comprised 276 (10%) of the entire cohort; of these, 64 (7%) were black, 79 (9%) Hispanic, and 133 (15%) white (univariate p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, compared to whites, blacks were half as likely to be made CMOs (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.34-0.75; p = 0.001), and no statistically significant difference was observed for Hispanics. All three racial/ethnic groups had similar mortality rates at discharge (whites 12%, blacks 9%, and Hispanics 10%; p = 0.108). Other factors independently associated with CMOs included age (p < 0.001), premorbid modified Rankin Scale (p < 0.001), dementia (p = 0.008), admission Glasgow Coma Scale (p = 0.009), hematoma volume (p < 0.001), intraventricular hematoma volume (p < 0.001), lobar (p = 0.032) and brainstem (p < 0.001) location and endotracheal intubation (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In ICH, black patients are less likely than white patients to have CMOs. However, in-hospital mortality is similar across all racial/ethnic groups. Further investigation is warranted to better understand the causes and implications of racial disparities in CMO decisions.

17p12 Influences Hematoma Volume and Outcome in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hematoma volume is an important determinant of clinical outcome in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of hematoma volume with the aim of identifying novel biological pathways involved in the pathophysiology of primary brain injury in ICH. METHODS: We conducted a 2-stage (discovery and replication) case-only genome-wide association study in patients with ICH of European ancestry. We utilized the admission head computed tomography to calculate hematoma volume via semiautomated computer-assisted technique. After quality control and imputation, 7 million genetic variants were available for association testing with ICH volume, which was performed separately in lobar and nonlobar ICH cases using linear regression. Signals with P<5×10-8 were pursued in replication and tested for association with admission Glasgow coma scale and 3-month post-ICH dichotomized (0-2 versus 3-6) modified Rankin Scale using ordinal and logistic regression, respectively. RESULTS: The discovery phase included 394 ICH cases (228 lobar and 166 nonlobar) and identified 2 susceptibility loci: a genomic region on 22q13 encompassing PARVB (top single-nucleotide polymorphism rs9614326: ß, 1.84; SE, 0.32; P=4.4×10-8) for lobar ICH volume and an intergenic region overlying numerous copy number variants on 17p12 (top single-nucleotide polymorphism rs11655160: ß, 0.95; SE, 0.17; P=4.3×10-8) for nonlobar ICH volume. The replication included 240 ICH cases (71 lobar and 169 nonlobar) and corroborated the association for 17p12 (P=0.04; meta-analysis P=2.5×10-9; heterogeneity, P=0.16) but not for 22q13 (P=0.49). In multivariable analysis, rs11655160 was also associated with lower admission Glasgow coma scale (odds ratio, 0.17; P=0.004) and increased risk of poor 3-month modified Rankin Scale (odds ratio, 1.94; P=0.045). CONCLUSIONS: We identified 17p12 as a novel susceptibility risk locus for hematoma volume, clinical severity, and functional outcome in nonlobar ICH. Replication in other ethnicities and follow-up translational studies are needed to elucidate the mechanism mediating the observed association.

Outbred CD1 mice are as suitable as inbred C57BL/6J mice in performing social tasks.

Inbred mouse strains have been used preferentially for behavioral testing over outbred counterparts, even though outbred mice reflect the genetic diversity in the human population better. Here, we compare the sociability of widely available outbred CD1 mice with the commonly used inbred C57BL/6J (C57) mice in the one-chamber social interaction test and the three-chamber sociability test. In the one-chamber task, intra-strain pairs of juvenile, non-littermate, male CD1 or C57 mice display a series of social and aggressive behaviors. While CD1 and C57 pairs spend equal amount of time socializing, CD1 pairs spend significantly more time engaged in aggressive behaviors than C57 mice. In the three-chamber task, sociability of C57 mice was less dependent on acclimation paradigms than CD1 mice. Following acclimation to all three chambers, both groups of age-matched male mice spent more time in the chamber containing a stranger mouse than in the empty chamber, suggesting that CD1 mice are sociable like C57 mice. However, the observed power suggests that it is easier to achieve statistical significance with C57 than CD1 mice. Because the stranger mouse could be considered as a novel object, we assessed for a novelty effect by adding an object. CD1 mice spend more time in the chamber with a stranger mouse than that a novel object, suggesting that their preference is social in nature. Thus, outbred CD1 mice are as appropriate as inbred C57 mice for studying social behavior using either the single or the three-chamber test using a specific acclimation paradigm.

Mammalian FMRP S499 Is Phosphorylated by CK2 and Promotes Secondary Phosphorylation of FMRP.

The fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is an mRNA-binding regulator of protein translation that associates with 4-6% of brain transcripts and is central to neurodevelopment. Autism risk genes' transcripts are overrepresented among FMRP-binding mRNAs, and FMRP loss-of-function mutations are responsible for fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of monogenetic autism. It is thought that FMRP-dependent translational repression is governed by the phosphorylation of serine residue 499 (S499). However, recent evidence suggests that S499 phosphorylation is not modulated by metabotropic glutamate receptor class I (mGluR-I) or protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), two molecules shown to regulate FMRP translational repression. Moreover, the mammalian FMRP S499 kinase remains unknown. We found that casein kinase II (CK2) phosphorylates murine FMRP S499. Further, we show that phosphorylation of FMRP S499 permits phosphorylation of additional, nearby residues. Evidence suggests that these nearby residues are modulated by mGluR-I and PP2A pathways. These data support an alternative phosphodynamic model of FMRP that is harmonious with prior studies and serves as a framework for further investigation.

Activating the translational repressor 4E-BP or reducing S6K-GSK3ß activity prevents accelerated axon growth induced by hyperactive mTOR in vivo.

Abnormal axonal connectivity and hyperactive mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) are shared features of several neurological disorders. Hyperactive mTORC1 alters axon length and polarity of hippocampal neurons in vitro, but the impact of hyperactive mTORC1 on axon growth in vivo and the mechanisms underlying those effects remain unclear. Using in utero electroporation during corticogenesis, we show that increasing mTORC1 activity accelerates axon growth without multiple axon formation. This was prevented by counteracting mTORC1 signaling through p70S6Ks (S6K1/2) or eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein (4E-BP1/2), which both regulate translation. In addition to regulating translational targets, S6K1 indirectly signals through GSK3ß, a regulator of axogenesis. Although blocking GSK3ß activity did not alter axon growth under physiological conditions in vivo, blocking it using a dominant-negative mutant or lithium chloride prevented mTORC1-induced accelerated axon growth. These data reveal the contribution of translational and non-translational downstream effectors such as GSK3ß to abnormal axon growth in neurodevelopmental mTORopathies and open new therapeutic options for restoring long-range connectivity.