Rapid discontinuation of sodium channel-blocking antiseizure drugs evokes focal edema in the splenium corporis callosi: A matched case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Focal edema of the splenium of the corpus callosum (FESCC) is infrequently seen in patients with epilepsy who are undergoing video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring. It is diagnosed by qualitative visual inspection of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and is usually assumed to be a dichotomous phenomenon. Rapid reduction of anticonvulsants has been proposed as a cause. In this study we investigate the relationship between dose reduction of anticonvulsants and the occurrence of FESCC, based on absolute drug doses. METHODS: We examined in detail the anticonvulsive therapy of all patients during video-EEG monitoring between 2014 and 2018. We compared patients with a radiologically diagnosed FESCC to controls in a 1:2 case-control analysis matched by age, epilepsy syndrome, and adjacent time of admission. In a separate correlation analysis, we examined quantitative effects of reduction of antiseizure drugs on diffusion restriction in the corpus callosum. RESULTS: Of 326 patients who had an MRI following video-EEG monitoring, 12 (3.7%) had FESCC. Antiseizure drugs were reduced to a significantly greater extent in FESCC patients than in the 24 controls (P < 0.001). Sodium channel-blocking antiseizure drugs were reduced (P < 0.001) and reintroduced (P < 0.001) significantly faster in FESCC patients, and the duration of anticonvulsant discontinuation was longer in FESCC patients (P < 0.001). The separate correlation analysis in 325 patients shows a weak correlation between diffusion restriction in the splenium and the reduction rate of sodium channel-blocking anticonvulsants (r = -0.15, P = 0.03) as well as the duration of their discontinuation (r = -0.16, P = 0.01). No such effects were found for anticonvulsants with other modes of action. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings substantiate that FESCC is associated with high rates of dose reduction of anticonvulsants, specifically those acting on sodium channels. Our results cautiously suggest that reducing sodium-channel blockers has a small effect on diffusivity in the splenium below the visual threshold.

Introducing the New 3.5/28 Microstent Retriever for Recanalization of Distal Cerebral Arteries in Acute Stroke: Preliminary Results.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To describe our first experience using a small stent retriever specifically designed for thrombectomy in cerebral arteries with a small caliber (Acandis APERIO® 3.5/28) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients with an acute ischemic stroke, who underwent endovascular recanalization using the APERIO® thrombectomy device with a diameter of 3.5 mm, were identified in retrospect and included in the present analysis. Demographic and clinical data as well as data on the procedures performed were collected (patient sex, mean age, NIHSS, mRS, TICI score, and complications). RESULTS: Stent retriever-based thrombectomy with the Aperio® 3.5/28 alone (n = 10 vessels) or in combination with other devices (n = 13 vessels) was performed in 22 acute stroke patients with embolic occlusions of distal branches of the anterior and posterior circulations (median NIHSS = 8.5). For vessels treated with the Aperio® 3.5/28, we achieved a TICI 2b/3 reperfusion rate of 73.9%. One patient suffered a symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage after thrombectomy; otherwise, no procedure-related complications were seen. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that mechanical thrombectomy of distal cerebral artery occlusions with the Aperio® 3.5/28 is feasible and in general safe, thus offering a promising option for endovascular stroke therapy. However, multicentric studies with larger patient cohorts are necessary to evaluate the clinical benefit.

Distribution and prognostic impact of microglia/macrophage subpopulations in gliomas.

While the central nervous system is considered an immunoprivileged site and brain tumors display immunosuppressive features, both innate and adaptive immune responses affect glioblastoma (GBM) growth and treatment resistance. However, the impact of the major immune cell population in gliomas, represented by glioma-associated microglia/macrophages (GAMs), on patients' clinical course is still unclear. Thus, we aimed at assessing the immunohistochemical expression of selected microglia and macrophage markers in 344 gliomas (including gliomas from WHO grade I-IV). Furthermore, we analyzed a cohort of 241 IDH1R132H-non-mutant GBM patients for association of GAM subtypes and patient overall survival. Phenotypical properties of GAMs, isolated from high-grade astrocytomas by CD11b-based magnetic cell sorting, were analyzed by immunocytochemistry, mRNA microarray, qRT-PCR and bioinformatic analyses. A higher amount of CD68-, CD163- and CD206-positive GAMs in the vital tumor core was associated with beneficial patient survival. The mRNA expression profile of GAMs displayed an upregulation of factors that are considered as pro-inflammatory M1 (eg, CCL2, CCL3L3, CCL4, PTGS2) and anti-inflammatory M2 polarization markers (eg, MRC1, LGMN, CD163, IL10, MSR1), the latter rather being associated with phagocytic functions in the GBM microenvironment. In summary, we present evidence that human GBMs contain mixed M1/M2-like polarized GAMs and that the levels of different GAM subpopulations in the tumor core are positively associated with overall survival of patients with IDH1R132H-non-mutant GBMs.

Area postrema syndrome as frequent feature of Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis.

OBJECTIVE: Area postrema (AP) syndrome (defined as: nausea and/or emesis and/or singultus at onset of brainstem dysfunction) comprises complex pathophysiologic mechanisms triggered by different entities. The first objective was to assess the frequency of AP syndrome as a clinical feature in brainstem encephalitis (BE). Finding an especially high prevalence of AP syndrome in Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE), we also analyzed the frequency of AP syndrome in other autoimmune diseases with anti-ganglioside antibodies (Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and its variants). METHODS: We systematically evaluated the prevalence of AP syndrome in BE in all patients treated at our university hospital during a 15-year period. In a second step, BBE patients were compared to GBS and Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) patients as clinical subtypes of a disease continuum without brainstem dysfunction. RESULTS: We found AP syndrome in 8 of 21 BE patients, including 3 of 7 BBE and in 4 of 112 GBS/MFS patients. AP syndrome was as a frequent but under-recognized feature of BE with a significant impact on patients' well being. INTERPRETATION: Manifestation of AP syndrome in BBE but also in GBS and its subtypes point toward a role of autoimmune antibodies that should be investigated in future studies. Considerable misdiagnosis or nonrecognition complicates diagnostic and therapeutic management. Therefore, AP syndrome should be considered in any episode of otherwise unexplained nausea, emesis, or singultus.

Predictive Value of Pooled Cerebral Blood Volume Mapping for Final Infarct Volume in Patients with Major Artery Occlusions. A Retrospective Analysis.

PURPOSE: Detection of ischemic core and collateral status is helpful to predict clinical success of thrombectomy in acute cerebral artery occlusion. Angiographic flat panel detector computed tomography (CT) with pooled blood volume (PBV) data acquisition was described to be helpful to estimate ischemic core in stroke patients prior to thrombectomy and to depict cerebral vessels. We therefore retrospectively evaluated preinterventional PBV data of a large collective of ischemic stroke patients prior to thrombectomy to test its predictive value on final infarct considering PBV maps and collateral status. METHODS: We used PBV data from 101 patients with acute cerebral artery occlusion prior to successful thrombectomy to reconstruct PBV maps and collateral status maps. Suspected ischemic core and collateral status were correlated to final infarct on follow-up multislice CT. Furthermore, the influence of time window and patient age was taken into consideration. RESULTS: In 75.2% (95% confidence interval CI 66-82%), suspected ischemic core (PBV) matched with final infarct and in 24.8% (95% CI 17-34%) final infarct was overestimated. In all patients, collateral status could be evaluated, and the better the collateral status, the smaller the final infarct (p = 0.016). Although not statistically significant, poor collaterals seem to be a risk factor for overestimation of final infarct on PBV maps. In patients >80 years old predictive value of PBV and collateral status is better than in patients ≤80 years old (p = 0.04). Increasing time window did not have significant impact on predictive value of PBV and collateral status. CONCLUSION: The PBV data are useful to expeditiously exclude infarct growth and estimate collateral status prior to thrombectomy after a longer interval between initial multislice CT magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and intervention. However, because of overestimating final infarct in 25% of patients, PBV data presuming large infarct should not be used as the only basis for excluding patients from effective stroke treatment at this point in time.