Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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Comparative Study
Differences in long-term outcome between patients treated in stroke units and in general wards: a 2-year follow-up of stroke patients in sweden.
The long-term beneficial effects of stroke unit care have been proved in several randomized trials. However, there is a question of large-scale applicability in routine clinical practice of interventions used by dedicated investigators in small randomized trials. The objective of this study was to compare, 21/2 years after stroke, patients who had been treated in stroke units and those treated in general wards in routine clinical practice. ⋯ Long-term beneficial effects of treatment in stroke units were shown for patients who were independent in ADL functions before the stroke. No benefits were shown for patients who were dependent on help for primary ADL before the stroke. Further studies on this group of patients with more detailed outcome measures are needed.
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The purpose of the present study was to assess the incidence and clinical significance of the intraparenchymal hyperdense areas on the posttherapeutic CT scan just after intra-arterial reperfusion therapy. ⋯ The presence of hyperdense areas was a significant risk factor for severe hemorrhagic transformations, although only 29.7% of patients with hyperdense areas had symptomatic hemorrhage. On the contrary, the absence of hyperdense areas was a reliable negative predictor for symptomatic hemorrhage.
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Clinical Trial
Safety of hemodynamic augmentation in patients treated with Guglielmi detachable coils after acute aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Guglielmi detachable coils (GDC) used in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms do not always completely occlude the aneurysm. Thus, after an acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), there is a theoretical risk of rebleeding from coiled aneurysms, especially when blood pressure is elevated. The aim of this study is to determine whether use of hemodynamic augmentation (HA) to treat delayed ischemic deficits (DID) will increase the risk of rebleeding in these patients. ⋯ Based on this limited series of patients, we believe that it may be safe to use HA in patients treated with GDC for SAH.
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Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) without infection is a well-known phenomenon that accompanies various acute cerebral insults. We sought to determine whether the initial SIRS score was associated with outcome in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). ⋯ In SAH patients, SIRS on admission reflected the extent of tissue damage at onset and predicted further tissue disruption, producing clinical worsening and, ultimately, a poor outcome.
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Current transcranial Doppler criteria for vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage are not age specific. We analyzed the effect of age on cerebral blood flow velocity changes after subarachnoid hemorrhage and constructed an age-adjusted predictive model of cerebral blood flow velocity in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. ⋯ Older patients have a lower incidence of symptomatic vasospasm, and such vasospasm develops at lower cerebral blood flow velocity than younger patients. A quadratic relationship was found between age and cerebral blood flow velocity. This model could be used to create an age-adjusted nomogram that might improve diagnostic capabilities of transcranial Doppler.