Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association
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J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Dec 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyContralesional Cathodal versus Dual Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Decreasing Upper Limb Spasticity in Chronic Stroke Individuals: A Clinical and Neurophysiological Study.
Different transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) paradigms have been implemented to treat poststroke spasticity, but discordant results have been reported. ⋯ Cathodal tDCS is slightly more effective than dual tDCS in reducing distal UL spasticity in chronic poststroke subjects. A modulation of spinal inhibitory mechanisms, demonstrated by H-reflex modifications, supports this finding.
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J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Dec 2016
Association of Rare Nonsynonymous Variants in PKD1 and PKD2 with Familial Intracranial Aneurysms in a Japanese Population.
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) caused by deleterious mutations in PKD1 (16p13.3) and PKD2 (4q21) often coexists with intracranial aneurysms (IAs). In this study, we investigated whether IAs without obvious renal diseases were also associated with these ADPKD genes. ⋯ ADPKD genes are susceptibility genes for IA even in patients without ADPKD.
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J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Dec 2016
Comparative StudyEmbolic Stroke of Undetermined Source and Detection of Atrial Fibrillation on Follow-Up: How Much Causality Is There?
There is increasing debate whether atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes during follow-up in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) are causally associated with the event. AF-related strokes are more severe than strokes of other etiologies. In this context, we aimed to compare stroke severity between ESUS patients diagnosed with AF during follow-up and those who were not. We hypothesized that, if AF episodes detected during follow-up are indeed causally associated with the index event, stroke severity in the AF group should be higher than the non-AF group. ⋯ Stroke severity is similar between ESUS patients who were diagnosed with AF during follow-up and those who were not. Given that AF-related strokes are more severe than strokes of other etiologies, this finding challenges the assumption that the association between ESUS and AF detected during follow-up is as frequently causal as regarded.
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J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Dec 2016
Intracerebral Hemorrhage Outcomes in Patients with Systemic Cancer.
Single-center studies suggest that patients with cancer have similar outcomes after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) compared to patients without cancer. However, these studies were limited by small sample sizes and high rates of intratumoral hemorrhage. Our hypothesis was that systemic cancer patients without brain involvement fare worse after ICH than patients without cancer. ⋯ Patients with systemic cancer have higher mortality and less favorable discharge outcomes after ICH than patients without cancer. Cancer subtype may influence outcomes after ICH.