Hypertension+MRI changes=impaired cognition.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Tuhrim.
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BACKGROUND: Blunted nocturnal decline in blood pressure (BP) is associated with increased risk of stroke. Mean day-night BP difference (dipping) and cusums-derived circadian alteration magnitude (CDCAM) of BP are the common measures of diurnal BP variation. Although a significant number of clinical trials have demonstrated that dipping is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events, the clinical value of CDCAM of BP is unknown. We evaluated the association between dipping and CDCAM of BP and the risk of stroke. METHODS: We analyzed 24-h ambulatory BP recordings of 110 control subjects and 91 stroke survivors enrolled in a case-control stroke study. Nondipping was defined as nocturnal drop of < 10 mm Hg in systolic BP. The associations between nondipping, CDCAM of BP, and risk of stroke were calculated in the same sample. RESULTS: There were significantly fewer nondippers in the control group as compared with those among the stroke survivors. The odds ratio for stroke of nondippers was 2.3. By contrast, there was no significant difference in CDCAM of systolic BP between the control and stroke survivor groups. This finding could not be explained by the presence of reverse dippers in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this case-control study, classification of subjects into dippers and nondippers was found to be more clinically useful than cusums analysis of BP profile. Analysis of prospective data is needed to determine the clinical value of the cusums analysis of BP profile.
Aortic artery dissection is a rare but well-recognized complication of Turner's syndrome. Isolated carotid or vertebral artery dissection has not previously been reported. The authors report the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging findings in a 30-year-old woman with Turner's syndrome who developed a high cervical spinal cord infarction with a Brown-Sequard syndrome owing to bilateral vertebral artery dissection. The diagnosis and management of the case is reviewed.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a seasonal variation in antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) titers and whether this variation differed between stroke cases and control subjects. METHODS: IgG and IgM anticardiolipin and antiphosphatidyl serine antibody titers were obtained on serum samples from 884 stroke patients and 1024 control subjects over a 7-year period. Temporal distributions by month of blood draw were evaluated. RESULTS: Marked seasonal differences in the proportion of positive titers were found for control subjects, but no seasonal variability among patients was noted. In control subjects, positive titers occurred less frequently in the summer months, mirroring the seasonal trends seen in respiratory track infections and rheumatic fever. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest some aPL antibodies arise from different origins in patients and control subjects. The seasonality observed in the apparently normal population may be related to antibodies of infectious origin and is consistent with the reported lack of association with thrombosis of infection-related antibodies.
Patients with primary autonomic failure have left-ventricular hypertrophy probably as a result of night-time hypertension.
Nondipping has been defined as a reduction in the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) of <10% from awake to sleep. We hypothesized that nondipping might be associated with stroke in minority populations. We monitored BP over a 24 h period with an ambulatory device in 166 cases from a multiethnic population of stroke survivors (63 blacks, 61 non-Hispanic whites, and 42 Caribbean Hispanics, aged 69.5 +/- 11 years) and 217 community control subjects (73 blacks, 107 non-Hispanic whites, and 67 Caribbean Hispanics, aged 69 +/- 9 years). Prevalence of nondipping was significantly greater among cases than among control subjects (64% v. 37%, P < .001). In a multiple logistic regression model adjusted for traditional risk factors for stroke, nondipping conferred an increased risk for stroke. Probability of stroke associated with nondipping (odds ratio (OR) 2.5, confidence interval (CI) 1.6 to 4.0) was equal to that of traditional risk factors. Nondipping increased the chance of having a stroke in both non-Hispanic whites (OR 4.2, P < .001) and blacks/Caribbean Hispanics (OR 1.9, P = .03). The strength of the contribution of nondipping to stroke risk was similar in all ethnic groups. Nondipping was associated with stroke in both men and women. Given the previous reports that nondipping contributes to stroke risk in European and Asian populations, these data suggest that nondipping may be universally associated with risk for stroke.
BACKGROUND: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring allows characterization of the patient's average blood pressure load as well as various profiles of blood pressure. Results from clinical studies suggest that dippers (patients whose blood pressures decrease during night-time) have a lower risk of cardiovascular events than do nondippers with similar daytime blood pressures. However, the definitions of dipping as well as of daytime and night-time vary among clinical studies. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether various definitions lead to markedly different classifications of dipper status. DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed 894 24 h ambulatory blood pressure recordings that had been performed at our institution according to three previously published definitions of daytime and night-time and five definitions of dipping. RESULTS: There were small but statistically significant differences among the mean daytime and night-time blood pressures determined using the various definitions. Likewise, the proportions of dippers varied significantly with definitions of dipping and of daytime and night-time. CONCLUSIONS: Differences among definitions of dipping as well as of daytime and night-time lead to significant variations in the characterization of patients' 24 h blood blood pressure profiles. The results of this analysis can be used when comparing the results of clinical studies as well as in their design.
PURPOSE: We report a case of a 65-year-old woman who had a subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhage secondary to rupture of an anterior communicating artery aneurysm and developed nonconvulsive status epilepticus of the complex-partial type, refractory to phenytoin (PHT), phenobarbital (PB), valproate (VPA), and lorazepam (LZP). METHODS: Three weeks after diagnosis of nonconvulsive status epilepticus, general anesthesia was induced with propofol and titrated to burst suppression on the electroencephalogram (EEG). RESULTS: During propofol infusion, the serum VPA level declined markedly, and despite >3 g daily doses, did not return to the therapeutic range, until several days after propofol was discontinued. Continuous propofol infusion was stopped after 7 days, and the patient recovered consciousness. Despite further complications, she gradually regained normal function and was discharged home 4 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first case of nonconvulsive status epilepticus successfully treated with propofol.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) remains associated with high morbidity and mortality. Therapy with external ventricular drainage alone has not modified outcome in these patients. METHODS: Twelve pilot IVH patients who required external ventricular drainage were prospectively treated with intraventricular urokinase followed by the randomized, double-blinded allocation of 8 patients to either treatment or placebo. Observed 30-day mortality was compared with predicted 30-day mortality obtained by use of a previously validated method. RESULTS: Twenty patients were enrolled; admission Glasgow Coma Scale score in 11 patients was </=8; 10 patients had pulse pressure <85 mm Hg. Mean+/-SD ICH volume in 16 patients was 6.21+/-7.53 cm(3) (range 0 to 23.88 cm(3)), and mean+/-SD intraventricular hematoma volume was 44.26+/-31.65 cm(3) (range 1.31 to 100.36 cm(3)). Four patients (20%) died within 30 days. Predicted mortality for these 20 patients was 68.42% (range 3% to 100%). Probability of observing </=4 deaths among 20 patients under a 68.42% expected mortality is 0.000012. CONCLUSIONS: Intraventricular urokinase may significantly improve 30-day survival in IVH patients. On the basis of current evidence, a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter study that uses thrombolysis to treat IVH has received funding and began January 1, 2000.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether elevated titers of antiphosphatidyl serine antibodies (aPS) are associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke in a general stroke population. BACKGROUND: aPS are members of the family of antiphospholipid antibodies that has been associated with increased stroke risk. Although aPS have been demonstrated to occur in 18% of a group of young patients with cerebrovascular symptoms, their prevalence in the general stroke population is unknown, and no controlled study to assess the strength of their association with ischemic stroke has been undertaken previously. METHODS: A case-control study comparing 267 acute ischemic stroke patients and 653 community controls. Sera were obtained immediately after acute stroke in patients. Titers of IgG aPS >16 IgG phospholipid units or IgM aPS >22 IgM phospholipid units were considered positive. Odds ratios (ORs) were obtained by logistic regression, adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and cigarette smoking. RESULTS: The adjusted OR was 5.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8, 18.0) for IgG aPS and 2.9 (95% CI 1.6, 5.3) for IgM aPS. The adjusted OR for either an elevated IgG or IgM aPS was 3.2 (95% CI 1.8, 5.5). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that elevated IgG and IgM antiphosphatidyl serine antibodies titers are associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke. The prevalence of these antibodies is lower, but the associated stroke risk is comparable with that of anticardiolipin antibodies.
BACKGROUND: We report a new method for treating patients with symptomatic high-grade stenosis of the proximal vertebral artery associated with high-grade stenosis of the ipsilateral carotid artery. METHODS: Our patient had high-grade stenosis of the proximal right vertebral artery as well as high-grade stenosis of the ipsilateral carotid artery and suffered continued posterior circulation ischemic neurological deficits despite anticoagulation. RESULTS: The patient was successfully treated with a carotid endarterectomy and thyrocervical-to-vertebral artery transposition in a single operation. CONCLUSION: This procedure has the advantage in this setting of avoiding additional cross clamping on the diseased carotid artery that would normally be required for the vertebral-to-carotid artery transposition with carotid endarterectomy. Also, thrombosis at one anastamosis site would not endanger the other site as well.
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OBJECTIVE: To determine the prognostic significance and pathophysiologic implication of intraventricular extension of supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Acute stroke and neurointensive care units of a tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty-nine patients with supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage, managed medically. INTERVENTIONS: Two patients had intraventricular catheters placed for external drainage. No patient received thrombolytics or surgical evacuation of clot. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 129 patients, 47 had intraventricular extension of their hemorrhages. These patients had larger intraparenchymal hemorrhages (36.6 cm3 vs. 15.0 cm3) and lower initial Glasgow Coma Scale scores (mean, 9.6 vs. 13.7). Their 30-day mortality rate was 43% compared with only 9% among those without ventricular extension. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to assess the prognostic significance of various measures of intraventricular hemorrhage. The presence of intraventricular hemorrhage, the number of ventricles containing blood, fourth ventricular blood, and intraventricular hemorrhage volume were each related to 30-day mortality in a univariate analysis, but only intraventricular hemorrhage volume contributed significantly to outcome prediction in the presence of Glasgow Coma Scale score. CONCLUSIONS: Volume of intraventricular hemorrhage is an important determinant of outcome in supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Clinical-radiological correlation studies in lacunar syndromes have been handicapped by the low sensitivity of CT and standard MRI for acute small-vessel infarction and their difficulty in differentiating between acute and chronic lesions. METHODS: We prospectively studied 43 patients presenting with a classic lacunar syndrome using diffusion-weighted MRI, a technique with a high sensitivity and specificity for acute small-vessel infarction. RESULTS: All patients were scanned within 6 days of stroke onset. An acute infarction was identified in all patients. Pure motor stroke was associated with lesions in the posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC), pons, corona radiata, and medial medulla; ataxic hemipareses with lesions in the PLIC, corona radiata, pons, and insular cortex; sensorimotor stroke with lesions in the PLIC and lateral medulla; dysarthria-clumsy hand syndrome with lesions in the PLIC and caudate nucleus; and pure sensory stroke with a lesion in the thalamus. Supratentorial lesions extended into neighboring anatomic structures in 48% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Lacunar syndromes can be caused by lesions in a variety of locations, and specific locations can cause a variety of lacunar syndromes. Extension of lesions into neighboring structures in patients with lacunar syndromes appears to be more frequent than previously described in studies using CT and standard MRI.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies have produced conflicting results regarding the putative association between anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and infarction in the general stroke population. These inconsistencies may be a function of sample size and methodological differences among the studies. The purpose of the present study, the largest case-control study of this issue to date, was to assess aCL status as an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke in a multiethnic, urban population. METHODS: We obtained aCL titers in 524 hospitalized acute stroke patients and 1020 community controls enrolled in the Minorities Risk Factors and Stroke Study. The results were interpreted as negative (</=22.9 IgG phospholipid [GPL] or 10.9 IgM phospholipid [MPL] units), low positive (22.9 to 30.0 GPL or 10.9 to 15.0 MPL units), or high positive (>30.0 GPL or 15.0 MPL units). Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, history of diabetes, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and current cigarette smoking. RESULTS: A positive aCL titer was present in 11% (111/1020) of controls and 34% (180/524) of cases. The adjusted OR for any positive aCL titer was 4.0 (95% CI, 3.0 to 5.5). For any positive IgG aCL titer this value was 3.9 (95% CI, 2.8 to 5.5), and for any positive IgM aCL titer it was 3.4 (95% CI, 2.1 to 5.5). There were no significant differences in ORs associated with high- or low-positive IgG or IgM aCL titers. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest study of its kind to date, aCL antibodies were demonstrated to be independent stroke risk factors across the 3 ethnic groups studied, conferring a 4-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. IgG and for the first time IgM aCL were each shown to be associated with increased stroke risk. The prevalence of these antibodies and the stroke risk associated appear greater than previously reported.
This study was designed to measure recurrent stroke rates and identify their determinants in a mixed ethnic population. A cohort of 299 patients (110 black, 57 Hispanic and 132 white) admitted to a large urban hospital with an acute stroke between November 1, 1991, and July 1, 1993, was followed for a mean of 17.8 months. Demographic and historical data and stroke subtype and severity were recorded at the time of the index stroke. The main outcome measure was stroke recurrence. The unadjusted relative risk of stroke recurrence for blacks, relative to white, was 2.0 (95% CI: 0.9-4.4) and for Hispanics, relative to whites, it was 2.6 (95% CI: 1.08-60). Ethnicity appeared to be associated with recurrence risk only among first-ever strokes: the risk for blacks, relative to whites, was 2.4 (95% CI: 1.02-5.5) and for Hispanics it was 2.9 (95% CI: 1.2-7.4). None of the other putative risk factors for stroke recurrence identified at the time of initial hospitalization were associated with risk of recurrence.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Conventional imaging lacks sensitivity and specificity for the detection of early subcortical cerebral infarction. The purposes of our study were (1) to determine the accuracy of diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI for early subcortical infarction and (2) to determine the efficacy of DW MRI for differentiating acute from nonacute subcortical infarctions when conventional MR demonstrates multiple infarctions. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with clinically diagnosed acute subcortical infarction and 17 control subjects were imaged with both conventional and DW MRI from 7 hours to 4 days (mean, 2.0 days) after onset of symptoms. All images were read blinded to specific clinical findings. In all cases, the precise neuroanatomic locations of lesions were noted. These lesions were subsequently correlated by an experienced stroke neurologist to determine whether their locations correlated to the patients' symptoms. RESULTS: The accuracy of DW MRI for acute subcortical infarction was 94.6%. In 4 of 39 cases, the acute infarction was not detected on conventional MRI. In 24 of 39 cases, conventional MRI showed the acute lesion as well as multiple other subcortical lesions. In each of these 24 cases, the DW MRI showed a single lesion to be acute, and in all 24 cases, that lesion corresponded to the patients' acute symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: DW MRI has very high accuracy for acute subcortical infarction and can differentiate acute from nonacute lesions. These data have significant implications in guiding patient management and patient selection for clinical trials.