Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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Studies in various surgical procedures have shown that transfusion of red blood cells (RBC) increases the risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Impact of blood transfusion in patients undergoing spine surgery is not well-described. We assessed the impact of intra and postoperative transfusion on postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing elective spine surgery. ⋯ After matching, transfusion remained adversely associated with prolonged length of stay (LOS) in hospital (odds ratio [OR] 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3-2.9), postoperative complications (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.9), and an increased 30 day return to operation room (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3-2.2). Transfusion of even one unit of blood intraoperatively was associated with prolonged LOS (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.5-2.6) and minor complications (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.3). Therefore, transfusion of RBC or whole blood, even a single unit, increased LOS and postoperative morbidity in patients undergoing elective spine surgery, independent of preoperative hematocrit level and patient comorbidities.
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There are no confirmatory or diagnostic tests or tools to differentiate between essential tremor (ET) and tremor in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Although a number of imaging studies have indicated that there are differences between ET and PD, the functional imaging study findings are controversial. Therefore, we analyzed regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) by perfusion brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to identify differences between ET and tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease (TPD). ⋯ Brain SPECT analysis of the TPD group demonstrated significant hypoperfusion of both the lentiform nucleus and thalamus compared to the ET group. Brain perfusion SPECT may be a useful clinical method to differentiate between TPD and ET even during early-phase PD, because the lentiform nucleus and thalamus show differences in regional perfusion between these two groups during this time period. Additionally, we found evidence of cerebellar dysfunction in both TPT and ET.
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The activation of hemostatic systems has been detected in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients. The influence of plasma D-dimer levels on clinical outcome remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of elevated plasma D-dimer levels on early mortality and long-term functional outcome in spontaneous ICH. ⋯ Comparison of patients with IVH and those without yielded a similar result. Multivariate stepwise backward logistic analysis identified plasma D-dimer levels as an independent risk factor for 7 day mortality (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.237, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.017-1.504, p=0.033) and 3 month poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score ≥ 3) (adjusted OR=2.279, 95% CI 1.130-6.595, p=0.026). The mechanisms by which elevated D-dimer affects the prognoses of spontaneous ICH patients remain unclear and require clarification in future studies.
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This study investigated the clinical value of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in predicting the motor outcome in patients with basal ganglia hemorrhage. This prospective study included 23 patients assessed with DTI to measure the fractional anisotropy (FA) value in affected cortical spinal tract (CST) at three time points: day 0, day 30 and day 90 after onset. The motor function score (MFS) was applied to evaluate motor function and patients were divided into good and poor outcome groups according to the MFS on day 90. ⋯ The MFS obtained at day 90 after onset was significantly correlated with the initial FA value in the affected cerebral peduncle (r=-0.926, p<0.01). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the FA value on day 0 could predict motor function outcome with a sensitivity of 88.89% and specificity of 92.86% at the initial FA value of 0.45. The FA value of affected CST in acute cerebral hemorrhage may valuably predict the motor function outcome and its dynamic change may represent the Wallerian degeneration in motor tracts after hemorrhagic stroke.
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Referral from other hospitals is one of the primary causes of delayed thrombolysis therapy after acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We aimed to evaluate whether direct access to a hospital offering intravenous thrombolysis therapy was associated with good functional outcome in AIS patients treated with thrombolysis. We enrolled patients who received intravenous thrombolysis within 3 hours of symptom onset at our stroke center. ⋯ Patients who were directly admitted to our stroke center had a shorter onset-to-door time (61 versus 120 minutes, p<0.001) and onset-to-rtPA time (103 versus 155 minutes, p<0.001) than those referred from other hospitals. Direct admission was associated with a good outcome with an odds ratio of 2.03 (95% confidence interval 1.051-3.917, p=0.035), after adjusting for baseline variables. Thrombolysis after direct admission to a hospital offering intravenous thrombolysis therapy could shorten onset-to-rtPA time and improve stroke outcome in patients with AIS.