International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society
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The coronavirus disease 2019 is associated with neurological manifestations including stroke. ⋯ Despite timely intervention and favorable reperfusion, the mortality rate in coronavirus disease 2019 patients with large vessel occlusion was high in our series and in the pooled analysis. Notable features were younger age group, involvement of both the arterial and venous vasculature, multivessel involvement, and complicated procedures due to the clot consistency and burden.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Sleep for Stroke Management and Recovery Trial (Sleep SMART): Rationale and methods.
Obstructive sleep apnea is common among patients with acute ischemic stroke and is associated with reduced functional recovery and an increased risk for recurrent vascular events. ⋯ Sleep SMART represents the first large trial to test whether aCPAP for obstructive sleep apnea after stroke/transient ischemic attack reduces recurrent vascular events or death, and improves functional recovery.
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Drugs that promote angiogenesis include statins, recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and stromal cell-derived factor-1. Low doses of atorvastatin could significantly increase the vascular expressions of endothelial growth factor, and the number of peripheral blood endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), thus improving angiogenesis and local blood flow. G-CSF is an EPC-mobilization agent used in ischemia studies for targeting angiogenesis after cerebral ischemia via EPCs. In previous clinical trials, consistent conclusions have not been reached about the effectiveness of G-CSF on ischemic stroke. Therefore, the therapeutic effect of G-CSF and its combination with other medicines need further experimental verification. It is known that atorvastatin, rhG-CSF, and SDF-1 are considered the most promising neuroprotective candidates, but a comprehensive comparison of their effects is lacking. ⋯ Combination therapy with recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and stromal cell-derived factor-1 is more effective than atorvastatin or recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor alone in protecting against stroke-induced damage and could be an optimal therapeutic strategy for stroke.