Journal of neurointerventional surgery
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the ACA, for short) became law on 23 March 2010. It represents the most significant transformation of the American healthcare system since Medicare and Medicaid. Essentials of ACA include: (1) a mandate for individuals and businesses requiring as a matter of law that nearly every American has an approved level of health insurance or pay a penalty; (2) a system of federal subsidies to completely or partially pay for the now required health insurance for ∼34 million Americans who are currently uninsured-subsidized through Medicaid and Exchanges; (3) extensive new requirements on the health insurance industry and (4) changes in the practice of medicine. ⋯ It contains provisions that went into effect starting on 21 June 2010 with many of the provisions going into effect in 2014 and later. The ACA goes well beyond insurance and payment reform. Practicing physicians will potentially be impacted by the Independent Payment Advisory Board and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
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Case Reports
Safety and efficacy of intracranial stenting for acute ischemic stroke beyond 8 h of symptom onset.
To report our experience with stent supported intracranial recanalization for acute ischemic stroke beyond 8 h of symptoms onset. Background Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) therapy is often limited to an 8 h window using mechanical means. However, recent reports have shown delayed recanalization beyond 8 h might be a viable option in a subset of patients. ⋯ Stent supported intracranial recanalization is a safe and feasible approach in a selective group of patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke beyond 8 h of symptom onset.
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Case Reports
Angioplasty and stent placement for complete occlusion of the vertebral artery secondary to giant cell arteritis.
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of systemic vasculitis in adults. Patients usually present with headache and visual symptoms, and have an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. It has been reported that 3-4% of patients with GCA develop ischemic events secondary to vertebral artery stenosis or occlusion. ⋯ The patient had significant improvement of neurological symptoms within 3 days after the procedure and continued to improve during hospitalization. Endovascular treatment of vasculitis affecting the intracranial vessels is not yet established. Our experience with successful treatment of complete occlusion of the vertebral artery secondary to GCA using endovascular intracranial angioplasty and stent placement is reported.
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To summarize and classify the evidence for the use of endovascular techniques in the treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke. ⋯ Recommendations previously published by the American Heart Association (AHA) (Guidelines for the early management of adults with ischemic stroke (Circulation 2007) and Scientific statement indications for the performance of intracranial endovascular neurointerventional procedures (Circulation 2009)) were vetted and used as a foundation for the current process. Building on this foundation, a critical review of the literature was performed to evaluate evidence supporting the endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The assessment was based on guidelines for evidence based medicine proposed by the Stroke Council of the AHA and the University of Oxford, Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM). Procedural safety, technical efficacy and impact on patient outcomes were specifically examined.