El doctor Pío Baroja y Nessi, un intelectual con síndrome de fragilidad / Doctor Pío Baroja y Nessi, an intellectual with a fragility syndrome

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Jean-André Rochoux (1787-1852), a physician philosopher at the dawn of vascular neurology.

Jean-André Rochoux (1787-1852) can be considered the author, in 1812, of the first clinical and neuropathological description of cerebral hemorrhage and ischemia, based on concepts that underlie current vascular neurology. His biography reveals how his thinking was shaped by materialist philosophy, which was also the basis of his rigorous scientific reasoning. Due to his intransigent defence of his philosophical ideas and his outspoken anticlericalism, he was often contradicted and had many opponents who were not inclined to perpetuate his memory after his death, despite the high quality of his medical research. Our biography traces the career of this iconoclastic thinker and physician ahead of his time.

[The history of surgery for brain and spinal cord vascular pathology at the Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute (to the 50th anniversary of foundation of the First Neurovascular Department)]. / Istoriya khirurgii sosudistoi patologii golovnogo i spinnogo mozga v Institute neirokhirurgii im. akad. N.N. Burdenko (k 50-letiyu osnovaniya pervogo neirososudistogo otdeleniya).

The Vascular Department of the Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute is one of the country's first dedicated departments engaged in treatment of patients with cerebrovascular diseases. The modern vascular service of the Institute is represented by several departments and groups: the Department of Microsurgical Treatment of Vascular Diseases, a group of Reconstructive Brachiocephalic Surgery, and the Department of Endovascular Surgery and Neurodiagnosis that is also engaged in intra-arterial chemotherapy and angiographic diagnosis. The neurovascular service of the Institute is a rightful leader of Russia in the number operations and their complexity: patients with the most serious and unusual pathologies are referred to the Institute from across the country. The achievements of the service are based on science and clinical practice that underlie progressive improvement in the diagnosis, surgical methodology, and recovery of neurovascular patients. On November 02, 2016, the Vascular Department of the Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its foundation.

[John R Hodges].

John Russell Hodges is an English behavioral neurologist, who is mainly engaged in neuropsychological research for neurocognitive disorders. He contributed to symptomatology of transient global amnesia (TGA), semantic dementia, and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Extensive features of his research work are based on his excellent clinician's approach and his outstanding neuropsychological viewpoint, always keeping that neural basis of the symptoms using neuroimaging and neuropathological techniques, and concerning cure and care for patients. Collaboration with psychiatrists, neuroradiologists, neuropsychologists, neuropathologists, social workers, occupational therapists, research nurses, molecular biologists have supported his broad research work. Karalyn Patterson who is an outstanding clinical and experimental neuropsychologist has been particularly important guiding light for his clinical research. He is an excellent clinician and also looks like a commander of a large and well organized research group.

Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest: real-life suspended animation.

Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) is a cerebral protection technique that was developed in the 1950s and popularized in the 1970s. It has become one of the three most common cerebral protection techniques currently used in aortic arch surgeries, with the other two being antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) and retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP). At our institution, DHCA has been the cerebral protection technique of choice for over a quarter century. Our clinical experience with DHCA has been very positive, and our clinical studies have shown DHCA to have outcomes equal to (and sometimes better than) those of ACP and RCP, and DHCA to be very effective at preserving neurocognitive function. Other institutions, however, prefer ACP or RCP to DHCA. Each technique has its own set of pros and cons, and the question regarding which technique is the superior method for cerebral protection is hotly debated.

[Charles Miller Fisher: a giant of neurology]. / Charles Miller Fisher, un grande de la neurología.

C. Miller Fisher MD, one of the great neurologists in the 20th century, died in April 2012. Born in Canada, he studied medicine at the University of Toronto. As a Canadian Navy medical doctor he participated in World War II and was a war prisoner from 1941 to 1944. He did a residency in neurology at the Montreal Neurological Institute between 1946 and 1948, and later on was a Fellow in Neurology and Neuropathology at the Boston City Hospital. In 1954 he entered the Massachusetts General Hospital as a neurologist and neuropathologist, where he remained until his retirement, in 2005. His academic career ended as Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. His area of special interest in neurology was cerebrovascular disease (CVD). In 1954 he created the first Vascular Neurology service in the world and trained many leading neurologists on this field. His scientific contributions are present in more than 250 publications, as journal articles and book chapters. Many of his articles, certainly not restricted to CVD, were seminal in neurology. Several concepts and terms that he coined are currently used in daily clinical practice. The chapters on CVD, in seven consecutive editions of Harrison's Internal Medicine textbook, are among his highlights. His death was deeply felt by the neurological community.

The ischemic penumbra: correlates in imaging and implications for treatment of ischemic stroke. The Johann Jacob Wepfer award 2011.

The concept of the ischemic penumbra was formulated 30 years ago based on experiments in animal models showing functional impairment and electrophysiological disturbances with decreasing flow to the brain below defined values (the threshold for function) and irreversible tissue damage with the blood supply further decreased (the threshold for infarction). The perfusion range between these thresholds was termed 'penumbra', and restitution of flow above the functional threshold was able to reverse the deficits without permanent damage. However, in further experiments, the dependency of the development of irreversible lesions on the interaction of the severity and duration of critically reduced blood flow was established - proving that the lower the flow, the shorter the time for efficient reperfusion. Therefore, infarction develops from the core of ischemia to the areas of less severe hypoperfusion. The propagation of irreversible tissue damage is characterized by a complex cascade of interconnected electrophysiological, molecular, metabolic and perfusional disturbances. Waves of depolarizations, the peri-infarct spreading depression-like depolarizations, inducing activation of ion pumps and liberation of excitatory transmitters, have dramatic consequences as drastically increased metabolic demand cannot be satisfied in regions with critically reduced blood supply. The translation of experimental concept into the basis for efficient treatment of stroke requires non-invasive methods by which regional flow and energy metabolism can be repeatedly investigated to demonstrate penumbra tissue that can benefit from therapeutic interventions. Positron emission tomography (PET) allows the quantification of regional cerebral blood flow, the regional metabolic rate for oxygen and the regional oxygen extraction fraction. From these variables, clear definitions of irreversible tissue damage and critically perfused but potentially salvageable tissue (i.e. the penumbra) can be achieved in animal models and stroke patients. Additionally, further tracers can be used for early detection of irreversible tissue damage, e.g. by the central benzodiazepine receptor ligand flumazenil. However, PET is a research tool and its complex logistics limit clinical routine applications. As a widely applicable clinical tool, perfusion/diffusion-weighted (PW/DW) MRI is used, and the 'mismatch' between the PW and the DW abnormalities serve as an indicator of the penumbra. However, comparative studies of PW/DW-MRI and PET have pointed to an overestimation of the core of irreversible infarction as well as of the penumbra by MRI modalities. Some of these discrepancies can be explained by unselective application of relative perfusion thresholds, which might be improved by more complex analytical procedures. Heterogeneity of the MRI signatures used for the definition of the mismatch are also responsible for disappointing results in the application of PW/DW-MRI for the selection of patients for clinical trials. As long as a validation of the mismatch selection paradigm is lacking, its use as a surrogate marker of outcome is limited.

Cerebrovascular diseases at the C. Mondino National Institute of Neurology: from Ottorino Rossi to the present day.

This paper traces the development of research and healthcare models in the field of cerebrovascular disorders at the C. Mondino National Institute of Neurology in Pavia, Italy. It starts with a description of the original experiences of Ottorino Rossi and his thesis on atherosclerosis which date back to the beginning of the last century; it then illustrates the connections between his seminal essay and the future directions followed by research in this institute, through to the development of one of the first stroke units in Italy. In this context, we examine a large range of scientific approaches, many related to cerebrovascular diseases (such as headaches) and autonomic disorders, and some of their biological and physiological markers. The originality of an approach also based on tools of advanced technology, including information technology, is emphasised, as is the importance of passion and perseverance in the pursuit of extraordinary results in what is an extremely complex and difficult field.

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in multiple sclerosis: a historical perspective.

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a term used to describe impaired venous drainage from the central nervous system (CNS) caused by abnormalities in anatomy and flow affecting the extracranial veins. Recently, it has been proposed that CCSVI may contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is hypothesized that venous obstruction results in abnormal flow that promotes inflammation at the blood-brain barrier and that this triggers a process marked by a disturbance of homeostasis within the CNS that leads to demyelination and neurodegeneration. The venous abnormalities of CCSVI are often diagnosed by ultrasound or magnetic resonance venography, however the prevalence of CCSVI detailed in groups of MS patients and patients without MS varies widely in published reports. Increased standardization of diagnostic studies to evaluate both anatomical and physiological findings associated with CCSVI is needed. The purpose of this article is to provide a background to understand the development of the theory of CCSVI and to frame the relevant issues regarding its diagnosis and relationship to the pathogenesis of MS.