Neurology
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The relationship among tizanidine dose, plasma concentration, and antispastic action is linear in nature. Response to a given dose of this agent varies among patients, and determining the appropriate clinical dose requires individual titration.
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Stroke is considered the second most common cause of dementia, but the magnitude of the risk posed by stroke has not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term risk of developing dementia after stroke onset in a hospitalized cohort. We prospectively examined 185 nondemented patients aged > or = 60 years hospitalized with ischemic stroke and 241 age-matched nondemented controls without stroke from the same community using neurologic, neuropsychological, and functional assessments given annually. ⋯ The RR of dementia associated with stroke compared with controls was 5.5 (95% CI, 2.5 to 11.1) after adjusting for demographic factors. Older age at stroke onset and fewer years of education were significant covariates, but sex and race were not. A low score on the Mini-Mental State Examination at baseline was a significant predictor when added to this model.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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We studied the predictive factors for deterioration from hydrocephalus that developed during the first 28 days after admission in 660 patients following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Deterioration from hydrocephalus was defined as deterioration of consciousness with no detectable cause other than hydrocephalus confirmed by a repeat CT with a bicaudate index exceeding the 95th percentile for age. ⋯ In a multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazards model incorporating fixed and time-dependent covariates, sum score of cisternal blood on initial CT (hazard ratio 3.15, p < 0.000001), presence of ventricular blood on initial CT (hazard ratio 1.66, p = 0.004), hydrocephalus on initial CT (hazard ratio 3.37, p < 0.000001), and long-term treatment with tranexamic acid (hazard ratio 2.40, p < 0.000001) were significantly related with the development of hydrocephalus. We conclude that a high amount of blood after SAH and delay of the resorption of cisternal and ventricular blood caused by long-term treatment with tranexamic acid increases the risk of deterioration from hydrocephalus after SAH.
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During 1992-1993, an epidemic of neurologic disease in Cuba affected 50,862 patients with optic neuropathy, sensorineural deafness, predominantly sensory peripheral neuropathy, and dorsolateral myelopathy. The clinical syndromes were identical to those of prisoners of war subjected to nutritional restriction in tropical prison camps during World War II (Strachan's disease). ⋯ The recently toughened 30-year-old US economic embargo on Cuba contributed to these problems and hampered the investigation, treatment, and prevention of the epidemic. A plea is made to the neurologic community to request the lifting of the trade blockade on a humanitarian basis.