Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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Comparative Study
Acute ischemic stroke patterns in infective and nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis: a diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging study.
Although infective endocarditis (IE) and nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) are associated with cardioembolic stroke, differences in the nature of these conditions may result in differences in associated stroke patterns. We compared patterns of acute and recurrent ischemic stroke in IE and NBTE, using diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI). ⋯ DWI has utility in differentiating between IE and NBTE. Patients with NBTE uniformly have multiple, widely distributed, small and large strokes, whereas patients with IE exhibit a panoply of stroke patterns.
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The natural history of aggressive (Borden 2 and 3) cranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) is not well described. Reported annual mortality and hemorrhage rates vary widely and range up to 20% per year. A consecutive single-center cohort of 236 cases that presented with a cranial DAVF between June 1984 and May 2001 was reviewed for the consequences of long-term persistent cortical venous reflux (CVR). ⋯ Persistence of the CVR in cranial DAVFs yields an annual mortality rate of 10.4%. Excluding events at presentation, in this series the annual risk for hemorrhage or nonhemorrhagic neurological deficit during follow-up was 8.1% and 6.9%, respectively, resulting in an annual event rate of 15.0%.
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Cerebral edema visualized by CT is often seen after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Inflammatory or circulatory mechanisms have been postulated to explain this radiographic observation after SAH. We sought to determine the frequency, causes, and impact on outcome of early and delayed global cerebral edema after SAH. ⋯ Global edema is an independent risk factor for mortality and poor outcome after SAH. Loss of consciousness, which may reflect ictal cerebral circulatory arrest, is a risk factor for admission global edema, and vasopressor-induced hypertension is associated with the development of delayed global edema. Critical care management strategies that minimize edema formation after SAH may improve outcome.