Lancet neurology
-
The large and increasing burden of stroke in Latin American countries, and the need to meet the UN and WHO requirements for reducing the burden from non-communicable disorders (including stroke), brought together stroke experts and representatives of the Ministries of Health of 13 Latin American countries for the 1st Latin American Stroke Ministerial meeting in Gramado, Brazil, to discuss the problem and identify ways of cooperating to reduce the burden of stroke in the region. Discussions were focused on the regional and country-specific activities associated with stroke prevention and treatment, including public stroke awareness, prevention strategies, delivery and organisation of care, clinical practice gaps, and unmet needs. The meeting culminated with the adoption of the special Gramado Declaration, signed by all Ministerial officials who attended the meeting. With agreed priorities for stroke prevention, treatment, and research, an opportunity now exists to translate this Declaration into an action plan to reduce the burden of stroke.
-
Small vessel disease is a disorder of cerebral microvessels that causes white matter hyperintensities and several other common abnormalities (eg, recent small subcortical infarcts and lacunes) seen on brain imaging. Despite being a common cause of stroke and vascular dementia, the underlying pathogenesis is poorly understood. Research in humans has identified several manifestations of cerebral microvessel endothelial dysfunction including blood-brain barrier dysfunction, impaired vasodilation, vessel stiffening, dysfunctional blood flow and interstitial fluid drainage, white matter rarefaction, ischaemia, inflammation, myelin damage, and secondary neurodegeneration. ⋯ Relationships between lesions and symptoms are highly variable but poorly understood. Major challenges are the determination of which vascular dysfunctions are most important in pathogenesis, which abnormalities are reversible, and why lesion progression and symptomatology are so variable. This knowledge will help to identify potential targets for intervention and improve risk prediction for individuals with small vessel disease.
-
Gait impairments are among the most common and disabling symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Nonetheless, gait is not routinely assessed quantitatively but is described in general terms that are not sensitive to changes ensuing with disease progression. ⋯ Advances in the understanding of the multifactorial origins of gait changes in patients with Parkinson's disease promoted the development of new intervention strategies, such as neurostimulation and virtual reality, aimed at alleviating gait impairments and enhancing functional mobility. For clinical applicability, it is important to establish clear links between specific gait impairments, their underlying mechanisms, and disease progression to foster the acceptance and usability of quantitative gait measures as outcomes in future disease-modifying clinical trials.
-
Cerebral microbleeds are a neuroimaging biomarker of stroke risk. A crucial clinical question is whether cerebral microbleeds indicate patients with recent ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack in whom the rate of future intracranial haemorrhage is likely to exceed that of recurrent ischaemic stroke when treated with antithrombotic drugs. We therefore aimed to establish whether a large burden of cerebral microbleeds or particular anatomical patterns of cerebral microbleeds can identify ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack patients at higher absolute risk of intracranial haemorrhage than ischaemic stroke. ⋯ British Heart Foundation and UK Stroke Association.