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  • Bartlett posted an update 7 months ago

    BACKGROUND Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and white matter lesion (WML) severity are associated with higher rates of death and disability in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). BEZ235 A prior report identified an increased risk of IVH with greater WML burden but did not control for location of ICH. We sought to determine whether a higher degree of WML is associated with a higher risk of IVH after controlling for ICH location. METHODS Utilizing the patient population from 2 large ICH studies; the Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Hemorrhagic Stroke (GERFHS III) Study and the Ethnic/Racial Variations of Intracerebral Hemorrhage study, we graded WML using the Van Swieten Scale (0-1 for mild, 2 for moderate, and 3-4 for severe WML) and presence or absence of IVH in baseline CT scans. We used multivariable regression models to adjust for relevant covariates. RESULTS Among 3023 ICH patients, 1260 (41.7%) had presence of IVH. In patients with IVH, the proportion of severe WML (28.6%) was higher compared with patients without IVH (21.8%) (P less then .0001). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that moderate-severe WML, deep ICH, and increasing ICH volume were independently associated with presence of IVH. We found an increased risk of IVH with moderate-severe WML (OR = 1.38; 95%Cl 1.03-1.86, P = .0328) in the subset of lobar hemorrhages. CONCLUSIONS Moderate to severe WML is a risk for IVH. Even in lobar ICH hemorrhages, severe WML leads to an independent increased risk for ventricular rupture. Published by Elsevier Inc.BACKGROUND Oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy is proven to be effective at reducing risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, racial minorities with AF are less likely to be prescribed vitamin K anticoagulants (VKA). There is little information on the racial disparity in the prescription of the non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and the associated risks of stroke and bleeding. METHODS We used data from the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse – a joint initiative across 11 Northwestern Medicine affiliated healthcare centers within metropolitan Chicago, Illinois. Newly diagnosed AF patients between Jan, 2011 and Dec, 2017 with CHA2DS2VASc (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥75 years, diabetes, stroke/transient ischemic attack, vascular disease, age 65 to 74 years, female sex) score of 2 or more and no prior history of stroke or major bleeding were eligible. Logistic regression was used to examine differences in the prescription of any OAC and NOACs by race. Ra minorities with AF who are at risk of stroke were less likely to receive any OAC and NOACs specifically compared to whites even after accounting for insurance status, income, and stroke risk factors. Independent of other risk factors, use of NOACs as compared to VKA was associated with significantly lower risk of stroke and bleeding only in whites but not in non-whites. CASE Two years ago, annual magnetic resonance imaging for unruptured right internal carotid artery aneurysm of a 47-year-old woman detected a cerebral infarct in her right occipital lobe which was unknown etiology and antiplatelet therapy was initiated. She presented with sensory disorder of her left fingers 4 months ago. Infarction in right parieto-occipital cortex and severe stenosis of right middle cerebral artery was revealed. Her laboratory test was normal except remarkably high homocysteine value. Regardless of dual anti-platelet therapy, she suffered from repeated minor stroke and the stenosis was progressing. Therefore, right superficial temporal artery – middle cerebral artery bypass was undertaken. Aspirin and clopidogrel were withdrawn 1 week before the surgery. Two branches were anastomosed with 2 separate frontal M4 branches. Although patency was confirmed immediately after the anastomosis, thrombus formation was revealed after 10 minutes. We needed to perform removal of the thrombus and re-anastomosis twice. Intraoperative administration of aspirin and ozagrel alleviated thrombotic tendency. After surgery, antiplatelet therapy and supplementation with folate and vitamin B were performed. Her postoperative course was uneventful and patency of both anastomoses was confirmed. DISCUSSION Controversy still exists regarding preoperative antiplatelet therapy before superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass, and folates and B6-12 vitamins supplementation for hyperhomocysteinemia. Considering intraoperative thrombo tendency in our case, it is recommended to evaluate the homocysteine level before bypass surgery for intracranial stenosis especially for young patients or patients with unknown etiology. Before bypass surgery of the patient with hyperhomocysteinemia, continuation of perioperative antiplatelet drugs and supplementation with folates and B6-12 vitamins are mandatory. BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to develop a prognostic nomogram for early stage extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKL) treated with high-dose radiotherapy (RT). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 81 patients at 2 cancer centers with stage I to IIE ENKL who received chemotherapy (CT) and high-dose RT were retrospectively analyzed. The development of the nomogram was on the basis of the Cox proportional hazards model. We implemented the concordance index (C-index) and performed a calibration curve to determine its predictive and discriminatory capacity and compared our nomogram with the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and the Korean Prognostic Index (KPI). RESULTS The nomogram included 4 important variables and used a multivariate analysis lactate dehydrogenase, primary tumor invasion, tumor response, and CT regimen. The 5-year OS rate and progression-free survival were 64.7% and 57.5%, respectively for the entire group. The C-index of the nomogram for overall survival (OS) prediction was 0.87, and it was superior to the predictive power of the IPI and KPI. The calibration curve showed that the nomogram accurately predicted the 5-year OS. CONCLUSION The proposed nomogram could provide an individualized risk estimate of the OS for early stage ENKL treated with CT and high-dose RT.

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