Neurology
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Determine the frequency of and the predictive factors for abnormal ocular fundus findings among emergency department (ED) headache patients. ⋯ Ocular fundus abnormalities were found in 8.5% of patients with headache presenting to our ED. Predictors of abnormal funduscopic findings included higher body mass index, younger age, and higher blood pressure. Our study confirms the importance of funduscopic examination in patients with headache, particularly in the ED, and reaffirms the utility of nonmydriatic fundus photography in this setting.
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The number of patients in prolonged postanoxic vegetative state (VS) is increasing. However, little information is available about prognostic markers of long-term outcome in patients who remain in VS more than 1 month postonset. The present 2-year prospective clinical study aimed to identify prognostic markers, recorded in the chronic phase, that might be useful for predicting recovery of responsiveness in a cohort of postanoxic VS patients. ⋯ Clinical features and evoked potentials are useful predictors of long-term recovery of responsiveness in patients with prolonged postanoxic VS.
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Neurology is traditionally recognized as primarily an outpatient or consultative specialty, usually attracting candidates whose main focus may not necessarily be the management of complex critically ill patients or the performance of invasive procedures. However, the advent of modern mechanical ventilation and, more recently, effective therapies for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke and other neurologic catastrophes is bringing about a paradigm shift, with neurologists increasingly assuming a more aggressive attitude and rapid response to frequently disabling and often fatal pathologies.