Association Between Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms and Downstream Stroke.

Background and Purpose- Case reports suggest that unruptured intracranial aneurysms may serve as a nidus for thrombus formation and downstream embolic stroke. However, few data exist to support an association between unruptured aneurysms and ischemic stroke. Methods- We conducted a within-subjects case-control study of acute ischemic stroke patients prospectively enrolled in the Cornell Acute Stroke Academic Registry who had magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and arterial imaging of the head within 14 days of admission. Reviewers blinded to the study hypothesis ascertained the presence of aneurysms from the neuroradiologist's clinical report of the arterial imaging findings. McNemar test for paired data was used to compare the prevalence of unruptured aneurysms ipsilateral versus contralateral to the side of anterior circulation infarcts. Aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery or in the posterior circulation were not counted in the analysis. Results- Among 2116 patients registered in the Cornell Acute Stroke Academic Registry during 2011 to 2016, 1541 met our inclusion criteria, of whom 176 (11.4%; 95% CI, 9.8-13.0%) had an intracranial aneurysm. The prevalence of aneurysms did not differ on the side ipsilateral versus contralateral to the infarction (risk ratio [RR], 1.2; 95% CI, 0.9-1.5). There was no significant association between aneurysms and ipsilateral stroke in secondary analyses of the 1244 patients with stroke in a single anterior circulation territory (RR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.8-1.9), the 619 patients with cryptogenic stroke (RR, 1.4; 95% CI, 0.9-2.0), or the 485 patients with cryptogenic stroke in a single anterior circulation territory (RR, 1.7; 95% CI, 0.8-3.3). Results were unchanged when counting only aneurysms >3 mm (RR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.8-1.9) or 5 mm in diameter (RR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.9-1.5). Conclusions- Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no significant association between unruptured intracranial aneurysms and ipsilateral ischemic stroke.

Continuing Medical Education in Neurology.

Continuing medical education (CME) is designed to keep physicians up-to-date on ever-changing practices and guidelines to provide patients with high quality care. CME is especially important in the field of neurology due to rapidly evolving knowledge and medical advances, and is a required element of maintenance of certification. CME itself has evolved from a passive, didactic approach to a learner-centered approach which utilizes new technologies, online learning, and simulations. CME improves knowledge, skills, and, to a lesser extent, patient outcomes, with multimodal, interactive interventions found to be most effective in teaching health care professionals. However, little data are available on CME in neurology. There is a significant gap in knowledge about CME interventions that work for neurologists. Rigorous education research, as well as making effective CME interventions more readily available to neurologists, is critical to optimize lifelong learning of physicians in the field of neurology.

A matter of timing: EEG monitoring for neurological prognostication after cardiac arrest in the era of targeted temperature management.

Neuromonitoring with electroencephalography (EEG) is an essential tool in neurological prognostication post-cardiac arrest. EEG allows reliable and real-time assessment of early changes in background patterns, development of seizures and epileptiform activity, as well as testing for background reactivity to stimuli despite use of sedation or targeted temperature management. Delayed emergence of consciousness post-cardiac arrest is common, therefore longitudinal monitoring of EEG allows the detection of trends indicative of neurological improvement before coma recovery can be observed clinically. In this review, we summarize essential recent literature in EEG monitoring for neurological prognostication post-cardiac arrest in the context of targeted temperature management, with a particular focus on the importance of the evolution of EEG patterns in the first few days following resuscitation.