Search

Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is still a highlighting global issue. Endoscopic evacuation as a minimally invasive treatment became an alternative other than conventional craniotomy and catheter drainage for ICH. However, there is no unified indication or standardized procedure on endoscopic treatment of ICH. Here we explored the literature and gathered information from different studies, to review the background, technical points, and existing problems of endoscopic treatment for ICH.

Background: The kidney-brain interaction has been a topic of growing interest. Past studies of the effect of kidney function on intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) outcomes have yielded inconsistent findings. Although the second, main phase of the Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trial (INTERACT2) suggests the effectiveness of early intensive blood pressure (BP) lowering in improving functional recovery after ICH, the balance of potential benefits and harms of this treatment in those with decreased kidney function remains uncertain., Study Design: Secondary analysis of INTERACT2, which randomly assigned patients with ICH with elevated systolic BP (SBP) to intensive (target SBP<140mmHg) or contemporaneous guideline-based (target SBP<180mmHg) BP management., Setting & Participants: 2,823 patients from 144 clinical hospitals in 21 countries., Predictors: Admission estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) of patients were categorized into 3 groups based on the CKD-EPI (Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration) creatinine equation: normal or high, mildly decreased, and moderately to severely decreased (>90, 60-90, and <60mL/min/1.73m(2), respectively)., Outcomes: The effect of admission eGFR on the primary outcome of death or major disability at 90 days (defined as modified Rankin Scale scores of 3-6) was analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression model. Potential effect modification of intensive BP lowering treatment by admission eGFR was assessed by interaction terms., Results: Of 2,623 included participants, 912 (35%) and 280 (11%) had mildly and moderately/severely decreased eGFRs, respectively. Patients with moderately/severely decreased eGFRs had the greatest risk for death or major disability at 90 days (adjusted OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.28-2.61). Effects of early intensive BP lowering were consistent across different eGFRs (P=0.5 for homogeneity)., Limitations: Generalizability issues arising from a clinical trial population., Conclusions: Decreased eGFR predicts poor outcome in acute ICH. Early intensive BP lowering provides similar treatment effects in patients with ICH with decreased eGFRs., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is a major cerebrovascular disease of proven genetic origin affecting 0.3-0.5% of the general population. It is characterized by abnormally enlarged and leaky capillaries, which predispose to seizures, focal neurological deficits and intracerebral hemorrhage. Causative loss-of-function mutations have been identified in 3 genes, KRIT1 (CCM1), CCM2 and PDCD10 (CCM3). While providing new options for the development of pharmacological therapies, recent advances in knowledge of the functions of these genes have clearly indicated that they exert pleiotropic effects on several biological pathways. Recently, we found that defective autophagy is a common feature of loss-of-function mutations of the 3 known CCM genes, and underlies major phenotypic signatures of CCM disease, including endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition and enhanced ROS production, suggesting a unifying pathogenetic mechanism and reconciling the distinct therapeutic approaches proposed so far. In this invited review, we discuss autophagy as a possible unifying mechanism in CCM disease pathogenesis, and new perspectives and avenues of research for disease prevention and treatment, including novel potential drug repurposing and combination strategies, and identification of genetic risk factors as basis for development of personalized medicine approaches.

The effectiveness of current management of critically ill stroke patients depends on rapid assessment of the type of stroke, ischemic or hemorrhagic, and on a patient's general clinical status. Thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) is the only effective treatment for ischemic stroke approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whereas no treatment has been shown to be effective for hemorrhagic stroke. Furthermore, a narrow therapeutic window and fear of precipitating intracranial hemorrhage by administering r-tPA cause many clinicians to avoid using this treatment. Thus, rapid and objective assessments of stroke type at admission would increase the number of patients with ischemic stroke receiving r-tPA treatment and thereby, improve outcome for many additional stroke patients. Considerable literature suggests that brain-specific protein biomarkers of glial [i.e. S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)] and neuronal cells [e.g., ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), αII-spectrin breakdown products SBDP120, SBDP145, and SBDP150, myelin basic protein (MBP), neurofilament light chain (NF-L), tau protein, visinin-like protein-1 (VLP 1), NR2 peptide] injury that could be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood might provide valuable and timely diagnostic information for stroke necessary to make prompt management and decisions, especially when the time of stroke onset cannot be determined. This information could include injury severity, prognosis of short-term and long-term outcomes, and discrimination of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. This chapter reviews the current status of the development of biomarker-based diagnosis of stroke and its potential application to improve stroke care., Competing Interests: Ronald L Hayes owns stock, receives compensation from, and is an executive officer of Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. and, as such, may benefit financially as a result of the outcomes of this research or work reported in this publication.

Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis developing after surgical or endovascular obliteration of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a rare but devastating complication that has not been adequately reported. Case Description: Two patients presenting with AVF (1 pial, 1 dural) and large venous pouches were successfully treated by surgical and endovascular means and were neurologically intact postoperatively. Rapid neurologic deterioration was seen on postoperative day 5 in the first patient and postoperative day 2 in the second patient. Both patients had massive cerebral venous thromboses on brain imaging and surgical exploration. One patient died and the other was severely disabled. Conclusion: Rapid occlusion of a high-flow AVF resulting in significant venous stasis can precipitate thrombosis of the venous system distal to the fistulous point. In the presence of large venous pouches and significant venous stasis, strict therapeutic anticoagulation may be required to prevent cerebral venous thrombosis. Therapeutic anticoagulation, though feasible following endovascular treatment, may prove particularly challenging after open surgical interventions given the risk of hemorrhagic complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The authors report a case of lateral posterior choroidal artery pseudoaneurysm that caused a spontaneous thalamic hemorrhage. The case supports obtaining computed tomographic angiography (CTA) even in seemingly routine cases of hypertensive hemorrhage and demonstrates a possibly unreported type of aneurysm causing thalamic hemorrhage. Case Description: A 60-year-old man with a history of hypertension presented with a spontaneous right thalamic hemorrhage, and CTA showed a focus of contrast inside the hematoma. One month later, the patient was well but a CTA showed that the hematoma had resolved but that there was enlargement of the contrast-enhancing lesion in the thalamus. Catheter angiography showed an aneurysm of the lateral posterior choroidal artery. This was excised via an occipital interhemispheric supratentorial subcallosal approach. The patient recovered fully and returned to work 3 months later. Conclusion: The case shows the need to carefully review CTA after ICH, even in cases of seemingly typical hypertensive ICH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomedical magnetic induction measurement is a promising method for the detection of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), especially in China. Aiming at overcoming the problem of low sensitivity, a magnetic induction sensor is chosen to replace the conventional sensors. It uses a two-arm Archimedean spiral coil as the exciter and a circular coil as the receiver. In order to carry out high-fidelity simulations, the Chinese head model with real anatomical structure is introduced into this novel sensor for the first time. Simulations have been carried out upon early stage ICH measurements. By calculating the state sensitivity and time sensitivity of the perturbation phase of two types of sensors using the electromagnetic software, we conclude that the primary signal received can be largely reduced using the novel sensor, which could effectively increase the time and state sensitivity simultaneously.