Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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Brain imaging abnormalities were reported in up to 44% of children with sickle cell disease (SCD). The prevalence of neuroimaging abnormalities in adult patients with SCD and their relationship to transcranial Doppler is still unclear. Our objectives were to study the frequency of MRI and MR angiography abnormalities in adults with SCD and to define what transcranial Doppler velocities are associated with intracranial stenoses detected by MR angiography. ⋯ The frequency of brain imaging abnormalities detected by MRI/MR angiography in adults with SCD was higher than that described for children. Transcranial Doppler velocities in adult patients with intracranial stenoses were lower than those described for the pediatric population with SCD.
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National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale certification is required for participation in modern stroke clinical trials and as part of good clinical care in stroke centers. A new training and demonstration DVD was produced to replace existing training and certification videotapes. Previously, this DVD, with 18 patients representing all possible scores on 15 scale items, was shown to be reliable among expert users. The DVD is now the standard for National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale training, but the videos have not been validated among general (ie, nonexpert) users. ⋯ The data suggest that certification using the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke DVDs is robust and surprisingly reliable for National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale certification across multiple venues.
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Comparative Study
Influence of weekend hospital admission on short-term mortality after intracerebral hemorrhage.
There is expanding literature to show that certain patients admitted during the weekend have worse outcomes than similar patients admitted during the week. Although many clinicians have hypothesized the presence of this "weekend effect" with patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, there is a paucity of studies validating this conjecture. ⋯ Weekend admission for intracerebral hemorrhage was associated with increased risk-adjusted mortality when compared with admission during the remainder of the week.
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Antiplatelet medication use and reduced platelet activity may be associated with mortality after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We tested the hypothesis that reduced platelet activity is associated with early ICH clot growth and worse outcomes. ⋯ Reduced platelet activity was associated with early ICH volume growth and worse functional outcome. Because platelet activity can be increased with platelet transfusion, increasing platelet activity is a potential method to reduce ICH volume growth and improve functional outcomes.
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Experimental stroke induces a biphasic effect on the immune response that involves early activation of peripheral leukocytes followed by severe immunodepression and atrophy of the spleen and thymus. In tandem, the developing infarct is exacerbated by influx of numerous inflammatory cell types, including T and B lymphocytes. These features of stroke prompted our use of recombinant T cell receptor ligands (RTL), partial major histocompatibility complex Class II molecules covalently bound to myelin peptides. We tested the hypothesis that RTL would improve ischemic outcome in the brain without exacerbating defects in the peripheral immune system function. ⋯ These data are the first to demonstrate successful treatment of experimental stroke using a neuroantigen-specific immunomodulatory agent administered after ischemia, suggesting therapeutic potential in human stroke.