The Glasgow Coma Scale: 50-year anniversary.

In 1974, Sir Graham Teasdale and Bryan Jennett wrote the "Assessment of coma and impaired consciousness, A practical scale," which has become one of the most influential papers in the history of traumatic brain injury, with more than 10,000 citations as of January 2024. Today, it is one of the most widely used tools in emergency departments, providing a reliable general overview of the patient's consciousness status.

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Presenting as Simultaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

A 37-year-old pregnant woman presented to the emergency department with central facial palsy, ipsilateral right hemiparesis, and seizures. Brain Computed Tomogram (CT) showed intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and bilateral frontal edema. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multifocal hemorrhages consistent with a diagnosis of multiple simultaneous ICH (MSICH) (Figure 1). We suspected cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) and performed a MR angiogram confirming this diagnosis (Figure 2). Upon admission, the patient was treated with low-molecular-weight heparin and transitioned to direct oral anticoagulation at discharge. Non traumatic MSICH is a rare imaging finding with high mortality, usually arterial in origin (1). However, since treatment options vary, cerebral venous thrombosis should always be considered in the differential diagnosis, especially in young female patients with known risk factors, such as pregnancy and puerperium (2-4). MRI modalities (Echo-GRE) are valuable tools in identifying ICH when CT is inconclusive (5).

Stroke in Tuberculous Meningitis.

A 17-year-old male presented with a 20-day history of vomiting, abdominal pain, weight loss, headache and fever progressing to dysarthria, somnolence, urinary incontinence, slurred speech, weakness, and inability to walk. Neurological examination revealed diminished visual acuity and diplopia. A head computed tomography (CT) showed acute hydrocephalus (Figure 1). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis revealed pleocytosis (lymphocyte predominant), hypoglycorrhachia (8 mg/dL), and hyperproteinorrachia (156 mg/dL). The brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed leptomeningitis, basal ganglia infarcts and basal meningeal enhancement highly suggestive of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) (Figure 2). We calculated a positive Thwaites score (-5) for TBM. The patient responded well to antituberculous treatment and dexamethasone. At 2 year follow-up the patient remains symptom-free. Stroke is a frequent complication of TBM and might contribute to long-term disability. Brain imaging findings, such as basal meningeal enhancement and basal exudates, hydrocephalus, and infarctions (TBM triad) are useful tools to rapidly identify probable TBM(3,4). Brain infarcts in TBM are located mostly in the arterial territory of distal branching arterires(5). Other less frequent imaging findings are tuberculomas and vasospasm. Key message: Hydrocephalus, basal meningeal enhancement, and basal ganglia infarcts should raise suspicion of tuberculosis, especially in endemic regions.

Expanding Diagnostic Workup for hypertensive Intracerebral hemorrhage: a retrospective LATAM cerebrovascular registry comparison.

Background: The leading cause of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is hypertensive arteriolopathy. In addition to age and hypertension history, patients usually present other comorbidities that potentially increase morbimortality. Ancillary studies other than non-contrast computerized tomography (NCCT) may help clarify the diagnosis and increase the detection of potentially modifiable vascular risk factors. Unfortunately, their use is not routinely performed. Objective: The study aimed to determine the frequency of ancillary studies performed in patients with hypertensive ICH. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of three Latin American cerebrovascular registries from academic medical centers, analyzing the results with descriptive statistics focusing on diagnosis and short-term outcomes. Results: We analyzed a total of 1,324 patients (mean age 64 years). Hypertension and obesity were the most prevalent risk factors. Only 14% underwent MRI, 10.3% extracranial ultrasonography, and 6.7% echocardiography. Among the three registries, the Latin America Stroke Registry performed more ancillary studies. Most of the patients presented a poor clinical outcome and in-hospital death. Conclusions: The use of ancillary studies in the diagnostic workup of ICH was poor in the three registries, and mortality was high. The lack of ancillary studies performed may negatively impact outcomes.

Osmotic demyelination syndrome in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) is a non-inflammatory process of the central nervous system caused by extracellular osmotic changes, which leads to oligodendrocyte apoptosis and disruption of myelin sheaths, usually affecting patients with underlying systemic conditions that impose susceptibility to osmotic stress. Description of ODS in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is limited to a few case reports. METHODS: Here, we report a 44-year-old man with NHL that had an incidental diagnosis of ODS. We conducted a literature review of the published cases of ODS in NHL patients from 1959 to 2020, aiming to describe the characteristics of these patients. RESULTS: A total of seven patients were summarized (four men and three women), including our case and six patients from published reports. Risk factors such as weight loss and alcoholism were reported in five (71.4%) patients. Hyponatremia was found in six (85.7%) of the cases, and none of them had overly rapid sodium correction. Four cases were asymptomatic, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was the most common subtype of NHL (85.7%). The outcome was favorable in most cases; only two deaths not directly related to ODS were reported. CONCLUSION: We wish to suggest that systemic and metabolic stress induced by NHL may be associated with the development of central osmotic demyelination, and therefore, NHL may be a novel risk factor for ODS. Clinicians should be aware of ODS in patients with hematological malignancies, even in the absence of traditional risk factors.

Antiphospholipid syndrome-mediated acute cerebrovascular diseases and long-term outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease associated with thrombotic and non-thrombotic neurologic manifestations. APS is classified as primary (PAPS) or secondary (SAPS) when it co-exists with another autoimmune disease. We aim to describe the spectrum of acute cerebrovascular disease among patients with APS, their differences between stroke subtypes, and long-term functional outcomes. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study including adult (≥18 years) patients with APS followed in the stroke clinic of a tertiary-care reference center for autoimmune diseases in Mexico from 2009 to 2019. RESULTS: We studied 120 cases; 99 (82.5%) women; median age 43 years (interquartile range 35-52); 63.3% with SAPS. Demographics, comorbidities, and antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) positivity were similar between APS type and stroke subtypes. Amongst index events, we observed 84 (70%) acute ischemic strokes (AIS), 19 (15.8%) cerebral venous thromboses (CVT), 11 (9.2%) intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH), and six (5%) subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH). Sixty-seven (55.8%) were known patients with APS; the median time from APS diagnosis to index stroke was 46 months (interquartile range 12-96); 64.7% of intracranial hemorrhages (ICH or SAH) occurred ≥4 years after APS was diagnosed (23.5% anticoagulation-related); 63.2% of CVT cases developed before APS was diagnosed or simultaneously. Recurrences occurred in 26 (22.8%) patients, AIS, in 18 (69.2%); intracranial hemorrhage, in eight (30.8%). Long-term functional outcomes were good (modified Rankin Scale ≤2) in 63.2% of cases, during follow-up, the all-cause mortality rate was 19.2%. CONCLUSION: We found no differences between stroke subtypes and APS types. aPL profiles were not associated with any of the acute cerebrovascular diseases described in this cohort. CVT may be an initial thrombotic manifestation of APS with low mortality and good long-term functional outcome.

Differences between Atrial Fibrillation Detected before and after Stroke and TIA: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Preliminary evidence suggests that patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) detected after stroke (AFDAS) may have a lower prevalence of cardiovascular comorbidities and lower risk of stroke recurrence than AF known before stroke (KAF). OBJECTIVE: We performed a systematic search and meta-analysis to compare the characteristics of AFDAS and KAF. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE for articles reporting differences between AFDAS and KAF until June 30, 2021. We performed random- or fixed-effects meta-analyses to evaluate differences between AFDAS and KAF in demographic factors, vascular risk factors, prevalent vascular comorbidities, structural heart disease, stroke severity, insular cortex involvement, stroke recurrence, and death. RESULTS: In 21 studies including 22,566 patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, the prevalence of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, prior myocardial infarction, and a history of cerebrovascular events was significantly lower in AFDAS than KAF. Left atrial size was smaller, and left ventricular ejection fraction was higher in AFDAS than KAF. The risk of recurrent stroke was 26% lower in AFDAS than in KAF. There were no differences in age, sex, stroke severity, or death rates between AFDAS and KAF. There were not enough studies to report differences in insular cortex involvement between AF types. CONCLUSIONS: We found significant differences in the prevalence of vascular comorbidities, structural heart disease, and stroke recurrence rates between AFDAS and KAF, suggesting that they constitute different clinical entities within the AF spectrum. PROSPERO registration number is CRD42020202622.

Hospital Arrival and Functional Outcome after Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with an ominous outcome influenced by the time to hospital presentation. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify the factors that influence an early hospital arrival after ICH and the relationship with outcome. METHODS: In this multicenter registry, patients with confirmed ICH on CT scan and well-known time of symptoms onset were studied. Clinical data, arrival conditions, and prognostic scores were analyzed. Multivariate models were built to find independent predictors of < 6 h arrival (logistic regression) and in-hospital death (Cox proportional-hazards model). RESULTS: Among the 473 patients analyzed (51% women, median age 63 years), the median delay since onset to admission was 6.25 h (interquartile range: 2.5-24 h); 7.8% arrived in < 1 h, 26.3% in < 3 h, 45.3% in < 6 h, and 62.3% in < 12 h. The in-hospital, 30-day and 90-day case fatality rates were 28.8%, 30.0%, and 32.6%, respectively. Predictors of arrival in < 6 h were hypertension treatment (odds ratios [OR]: 1.675, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.030-2.724), ≥ 3 years of schooling (OR: 1.804, 95% CI: 1.055-3.084), and seizures at ICH onset (OR: 2.416, 95% CI: 1.068-5.465). Predictors of death (56.9% neurological) were systolic blood pressure > 180 mmHg (hazards ratios [HR]: 1.839, 95% CI: 1.031-3.281), ICH score ≥ 3 (HR: 2.302, 95% CI: 1.300-4.074), and admission Glasgow Coma Scale < 8 (HR: 4.497, 95% CI: 2.466-8.199). Early arrival was not associated with outcome at discharge, 30 or 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, less than half of patients with ICH arrived to the hospital in < 6 h. However, early arrival was not associated with the short-term outcome in this data set.

Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction after stroke.

Strokes are the paradigmatic example of the sudden impairment of the cerebral regulation of cardiac autonomic regulation. Although several aspects of dysautonomic cardiovascular regulation post stroke remain unanswered, there has been a wealth of research in this area in the last decade. In this article, we present a state-of-the-art review on the anatomical and functional organization of cardiovascular autonomic regulation, and the pathophysiology, incidence, time course, diagnosis, clinical aspects, prognosis, and management of post-stroke cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction.

Prediction of acute neurovascular syndromes with prehospital clinical features witnessed by bystanders.

BACKGROUND: The prompt recognition of an acute neurovascular syndrome by the patient or a bystander witnessing the event can directly influence outcome. We aimed to study the predictive value of the medical history and clinical features recognized by the patients' bystanders to preclassify acute stroke syndromes in prehospital settings. METHODS: We analyzed 369 patients: 209 (56.6%) with acute ischemic stroke (AIS), 107 (29.0%) with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and 53 (14.4%) with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). All patients had neuroimaging as diagnostic gold standard. We constructed clinical prediction rules (CPRs) with features recognized by the bystanders witnessing the stroke onset to classify the acute neurovascular syndromes before final arrival to the emergency room (ER). RESULTS: In all, 83.2% cases were referred from other centers, and only 16.8% (17.2% in AIS, 15% in ICH, and 18.9% in SAH) had direct ER arrival. The time to first assessment in ≤ 3 h occurred in 72.4% (73.7%, 73.8%, and 64.2%, respectively), and final ER arrival in ≤ 3 h occurred in 26.8% (32.1%, 15.9%, and 28.3%, respectively). Clinical features referred by witnesses had low positive predictive values (PPVs) for stroke type prediction. Language or speech disorder + focal motor deficit showed 63.3% PPV, and 77.0% negative predictive value (NPV) for predicting AIS. Focal motor deficit + history of hypertension had 35.9% PPV and 78.8% NPV for ICH. Headache alone had 27.9% PPV and 95.3% NPV for SAH. In multivariate analyses, seizures, focal motor deficit, and hypertension increased the probability of a time to first assessment in ≤ 3 h, while obesity was inversely associated. Final ER arrival was determined by age and a direct ER arrival without previous referrals. CONCLUSION: CPRs constructed with the witnesses' narrative had only adequate NPVs in the prehospital classification of acute neurovascular syndromes, before neuroimaging confirmation.

Detection of Pulmonary Shunts by Transcranial Doppler in Hospitalized Non-mechanically Ventilated Coronavirus Disease-19 Patients.

In severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-associated disease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), hypoxemia mechanisms differ from those observed in acute respiratory distress syndrome. Hypoxemia and respiratory failure in COVID- 19 are attributed to pulmonary angiopathy, increasing physiological pulmonary shunting1-3.

Reliability of Bystander Recognition of Clinical Features in Pre-Hospital Classification of Acute Cerebrovascular Syndromes: Preliminary Findings.

BACKGROUND: The recognition of stroke symptoms by patients or bystanders directly affects the outcomes of patients with acute cerebrovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the predictive value of the medical his- tory and clinical features recognized by the patients' bystanders to classify neurovascular syndromes in pre-hospital settings. METHODS: We included 150 stroke patients of two Mexican referral centers: 50 with acute ischemic stroke (AIS), 50 with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and 50 with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The performance of clinical prediction rules (CPR) to identify the stroke types was evaluated with features recognized by the patients' bystanders before hospital arrival. The impact of CPRs on early arrival and in-hospital mortality was also analyzed. RESULTS: Overall, 72% of the patients had previous medical evaluations in other centers before final referral to our hospitals, and therefore, only 45% had a final onset- to-door time <6 h, even when the first medical assessment had occurred in ≤1 h in 75% of cases. Clinical features noticed by the patients' bystanders had low positive predictive values (PPV) for any stroke type. The CPR "language or speech disor- der + focal motor deficit" had 93% sensitivity and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 84% to distinguish AIS. In SAH, head- ache alone showed a sensitivity of 84% and NPV of 97%. No CPR had an adequate performance on ICH. CPRs were not as- sociated with final onset-to-door time. Altered consciousness, age ≥65 years, indirect arrival with stops before final referral, and atrial fibrillation increased in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: Clinical features referred by the witness of a neurovascular emergency have limited PPV, but adequate NPV in ruling-out AIS and SAH among stroke types. The use of CPRs had no impact on onset-to-door time or in-hospital mortality when the final arrival to a third-level center occurs with previous medical refer- rals.

Symmetrical and bilateral basal ganglia calcification. Case series and literature review. / Calcificación simétrica y bilateral de ganglios basales. Serie de casos y revisión de la literatura.

Introduction: Symmetric, bilateral basal ganglia calcification is rare finding that sometimes occurs asymptomatically. Its prevalence increases with age, and the most affected site is the globus pallidus. Report of cases: A series of seven cases with clinical and imaging diagnosis of basal ganglia calcification, recorded during the 2012 to 2016 period at the Department of Internal Medicine of the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara "Fray Antonio Alcalde, is presented. Most common clinical presentation was with altered alertness, headache and seizures. There was one case with movement disorders; there were no cases identified with dementia or tetany. Conclusion: Ganglia calcification can be associated with age-related neurodegenerative changes, but it can be an initial manifestation of a variety of systemic pathologies, including disorders of the calcium metabolism, intoxication by different agents, and autoimmune and genetic diseases. Correlation of typical imaging findings with clinical manifestations and laboratory results should be established to reach a definitive judgment.

Introducción: La calcificación bilateral y simétrica de los ganglios basales es un hallazgo infrecuente que a veces no ocasiona síntomas. Su prevalencia aumenta con la edad y el sitio más afectado es el globo pálido. Reporte de casos: Se describe una serie de siete casos con diagnóstico clínico y por imagen de calcificación de ganglios basales, atendidos entre 2012 y 2016 en el Servicio de Medicina Interna del Hospital Civil de Guadalajara Fray Antonio Alcalde. Las manifestaciones clínicas más comunes fueron alteración del estado de alerta, cefalea y crisis convulsivas. Se identificó un caso con trastornos del movimiento; no hubo casos con demencia o tetania. Conclusión: La calcificación de los ganglios puede estar relacionada con cambios neurodegenerativos por la edad, pero puede ser la manifestación inicial de una variedad de patologías sistémicas, incluyendo trastornos del metabolismo del calcio, intoxicación por diversos agentes, enfermedades autoinmunes y genéticas. Se debe hacer la correlación de los hallazgos de imagen típicos con manifestaciones clínicas y resultados de laboratorio para llegar a un dictamen definitivo.