International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society
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The 2018 update of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations for Acute Stroke Management, 6th edition, is a comprehensive summary of current evidence-based recommendations, appropriate for use by healthcare providers and system planners caring for persons with very recent symptoms of acute stroke or transient ischemic attack. The recommendations are intended for use by a interdisciplinary team of clinicians across a wide range of settings and highlight key elements involved in prehospital and Emergency Department care, acute treatments for ischemic stroke, and acute inpatient care. The most notable changes included in this 6th edition are the renaming of the module and its integration of the formerly separate modules on prehospital and emergency care and acute inpatient stroke care. ⋯ This module also emphasizes the need for increased public and healthcare provider's recognition of the signs of stroke and immediate actions to take; the important expanding role of paramedics and all emergency medical services personnel; arriving at a stroke-enabled Emergency Department without delay; and launching local healthcare institution code stroke protocols. Revisions have also been made to the recommendations for the triage and assessment of risk of recurrent stroke after transient ischemic attack/minor stroke and suggested urgency levels for investigations and initiation of management strategies. The goal of this updated guideline is to optimize stroke care across Canada, by reducing practice variations and reducing the gap between current knowledge and clinical practice.
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Review
Complications of endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke: Prevention and management.
Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for the treatment of acute stroke due to large vessel occlusion has evolved significantly with the publication of multiple positive thrombectomy trials. MT is now a recommended treatment for acute ischemic stroke. Mechanical thrombectomy is associated with a number of intra-procedural or post-operative complications, which need to be minimized and effectively managed to maximize the benefits of thrombectomy. ⋯ The search included only human studies, and was limited to studies published in English between January 2014 and November 2016. The final reference list was selected on the basis of relevance to the topics covered in the Review. Guidelines for management of acute ischaemic stroke by the American Heart Association, the European Stroke Organisation, multi-disciplinary guidelines and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) were also reviewed.
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It has been 40 years since the ischemic penumbra was first conceptualized through work on animal models. The topography of penumbra has been portrayed as an infarcted core surrounded by penumbral tissue and an extreme rim of oligemic tissue. This picture has been used in many review articles and textbooks before the advent of modern imaging. ⋯ Further, there are reports of "good" outcome even in patients with a large ischemic core. This latter observation of good outcome despite having a large core requires an understanding of the topography of the penumbra and the function of the infarcted regions. It is proposed that future research in this area takes departure from a time-dependent approach to a more individualized tissue and location-based approach.
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Background Case-fatality rates after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage have decreased over the past decades. However, many patients who survive an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage have long-term functional and cognitive impairments. Aims We sought to review all data on conventional brain MRI obtained in the chronic phase after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage to (1) analyze the proportion of patients with cerebral infarction or brain volume changes; (2) investigate baseline determinants predictive of MRI-detected damage; and (3) assess if brain damage is predictive of patient outcome. ⋯ Conclusion Patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage may demonstrate brain infarcts and decreased brain parenchyma, which is related to worse outcome. Thereby, both brain infarcts and brain volume measurements could be used as outcome markers in pharmaceutical trials. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO CRD42016040095.
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Background Case-fatality rates after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage have decreased over the past decades. However, many patients who survive an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage have long-term functional and cognitive impairments. Aims We sought to review all data on conventional brain MRI obtained in the chronic phase after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage to (1) analyze the proportion of patients with cerebral infarction or brain volume changes; (2) investigate baseline determinants predictive of MRI-detected damage; and (3) assess if brain damage is predictive of patient outcome. ⋯ Conclusion Patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage may demonstrate brain infarcts and decreased brain parenchyma, which is related to worse outcome. Thereby, both brain infarcts and brain volume measurements could be used as outcome markers in pharmaceutical trials. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO CRD42016040095.