Hawkes, Maximiliano A.

Intravenous thrombolysis improves outcomes in acute ischemic stroke in a time-dependent fashion. As in teaching hospitals, clinical outcomes may worsen due to the arrival of new inexperienced house staff early in the academic year (July effect, JE), we evaluated the impact of the “JE” on the door-to-needle time for intravenous thrombolysis and other stroke outcomes. In this retrospective cohort study, we assessed all acute ischemic strokes treated with intravenous thrombolysis between July 2003 and June 2016. Among 101 patients, there was no detrimental July effect on the door-to-needle time, rate of thrombolysis within 60 minutes of arrival, thrombolysis of stroke mimics, post-thrombolysis intracranial hemorrhages, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and modified Rankin Scale outcomes.

Background and purpose Identifying embolic strokes of undetermined source (ESUS) patients likely to harbor atrial fibrillation may have diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Our aim was to examine differences between ESUS and cardioembolic strokes, to evaluate stroke recurrence rate among ESUS and to identify baseline characteristics of ESUS patients who were later diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Materials and methods We assessed all ischemic stroke patients admitted between June 2012 and November 2013. ESUS were compared to cardioembolic strokes at discharge. After at least 12-month follow-up, ESUS patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation were compared to those who remained as ESUS. Results There were 236 ischemic strokes, 32.6% were ESUS. Compared to cardioembolic strokes, ESUS were younger (p < 0.0001), had milder strokes (p < 0.05), less prevalence of hypertension (p < 0.05), peripheral vascular disease (p < 0.05), and previous ischemic stroke (p < 0.05). After follow-up, 15% of ESUS patients had stroke recurrences and 12% evidenced paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. ESUS patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in the follow-up were older (p < 0.0001), had higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p < 0.05), and were more likely to have ≥2 infarcts in the same arterial territory in the initial magnetic resonance imaging (p < 0.05). Conclusions Older age, small-scattered infarcts on initial magnetic resonance imaging and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate levels appear to identify ESUS patients more likely to be diagnosed of atrial fibrillation during follow-up.

ABSTRACTIntroductionThe frequency of axonal Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) varies among countries. Previous studies supporting the high frequency of axonal GBS in South America have been carried out with pediatric populations. We seek to determine the frequency of axonal GBS in both children and adults in South America.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort analysis of patients who were diagnosed with GBS between January 2006 and December 2013 in a neurological center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Adults and children with a diagnosis of GBS were included and classified by applying Ho and colleagues' criteria1 for axonal GBS.ResultsThe study included 105 patients with GBS. Among 58 adults, only 5 individuals were classified as axonal GBS compared with 16 of 47 children. The frequency of axonal GBS was significantly higher in children than in adults (34% vs. 8.6%, P = 0.0001).DiscussionAs shown in a cohort of South American patients, age may impact the frequency of axonal GBS. Muscle Nerve 56: 1311–1313, 2017