Bmc Neurol
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
High serum levels of caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18 are associated with malignant middle cerebral artery infarction patient mortality.
There have been found apoptotic changes in brain tissue samples from humans after cerebral ischemia. Caspase-cleaved cytokeratin (CCCK)-18 could appears in blood during apoptosis. High circulating levels of CCCK-18 have been associated with a poor prognosis in patients with cerebral process, such as traumatic brain injury and spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage. However, they have not been explored in patients with ischemic stroke. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between serum CCCK-18 levels and mortality in patients with severe malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (MMCAI). ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first series reporting data on serum CCCK-18 levels in ischemic stroke patients. The novel findings of our study were that non-surviving severe MMCAI patients had higher serum CCCK-18 levels than surviving patients, and that there is an association between high serum CCCK-18 levels and MMCAI patients mortality.
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The objective of this study was to evaluate and identify the risk factors for developing a new or enlarged intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) after the placement of an external ventricular drain. ⋯ Compared to those study participants who did not receive an antiplatelet within 96 h of external ventricular drain placement, those participants who did receive an antiplatelet were 13.1 times more likely to exhibit a new or enlarged intracranial hemorrhage.
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Clinical scales to detect large vessel occlusion (LVO) may help to determine the optimal transport destination for patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The clinical benefit associated with improved diagnostic accuracy of these scales has not been quantified. ⋯ Based on a probabilistic conditional model, the results of our simulation indicate that more accurate prehospital clinical LVO detections scales may be associated with only modest improvements in the expected probability of good outcome for patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke and unknown vessel status.
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Post-stroke depression (PSD) seriously affects the rehabilitation of nerve function and quality of life. However, the pathogenesis of PSD is still not clear. This study aimed to investigate the demographic, clinical, and biochemical factors in patients with PSD. ⋯ The identification of higher NIHSS scores, higher HAMD scores, lower dopamine level, lower 5-hydroxytryptamine level, higher tumor necrosis factor-α level, and lower nerve growth factor level might be useful for clinicians in recognizing and treating depression in patients after a stroke.
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The loss of the swallow-tail sign of the substantia nigra has been proposed for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Aim was to evaluate, if the sign occurs consistently in healthy subjects and if it can be reliably detected with high-resolution 7T susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI). ⋯ The swallow-tail sign can be reliably detected. However, our data suggest its occurrence is not consistent in healthy subjects. It may be possible that one reason is an individually variable molecular organization of nigrosome 1 so that it does not return a uniform signal in SWI.