Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Multimodal CT-assisted thrombolysis in patients with acute stroke: a cohort study.
The value of multimodal CT to assist thrombolysis has received little attention in stroke. ⋯ Multimodal CT use in routine clinical practice may heighten the overall efficacy of thrombolytic therapy in acute ischemic stroke. The benefits seem greater in patients treated >3 hours after stroke onset, but further randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings.
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Early assessment of the likelihood of neurological recovery in comatose cardiac arrest survivors remains challenging. We hypothesize that quantitative noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) combined with neurological assessments, are predictive of outcome. ⋯ Combining density changes on CT with GCS_Day3 may be useful for predicting poor outcome in comatose cardiac arrest patients who are neither rapidly improving nor deteriorating. Improved prognostication with CT compared with neurological assessments can be achieved in patients treated with hypothermia.
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Emergency department (ED) crowding occurs when demands for ED care exceed the supply of available resources. Prior studies have shown that ED crowding is associated with a delay in provision of critical ED services, but the impact of ED crowding on acute stroke care has not been extensively studied. ⋯ ED crowding was not associated with care delays in thrombolysis-eligible patients with stroke. However, those with symptoms >3 hours do experience CT delays at higher levels of ED crowding.
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Comparative Study
Sex differences in the response to poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 deletion and caspase inhibition after stroke.
Emerging data suggest that the molecular cell death pathways triggered by ischemic insults differ in the male and female brain. Cell death in males is initiated by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) activation; however, manipulation of this pathway paradoxically increases ischemic damage in females. In contrast, females are exquisitely sensitive to caspase-mediated cell death. The effect of caspase inhibition in PARP-1 knockout mice was evaluated to determine if the detrimental effects of PARP deletion in females were secondary to increased caspase activation. ⋯ Deletion of PARP-1 reduces infarct in males but exacerbates injury in females. PARP-1(-/-) females have enhanced caspase activation. The detrimental effects of PARP loss in females can be reversed with caspase inhibition.