Stroke

PURPOSE: To assess radiomics and deep learning (DL) methods in identifying symptomatic Carotid Artery Disease (CAD) from carotid CT angiography (CTA) images. We further compare the performance of these novel methods to the conventional calcium score. METHODS: Carotid CT angiography (CTA) images from symptomatic patients (ischaemic stroke/transient ischaemic attack within the last 3 months) and asymptomatic patients were analysed. Carotid arteries were classified into culprit, non-culprit and asymptomatic...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The paucity of large-scale data exploring the effect of prior bariatric surgery on recurrent stroke outcomes in older individuals with obesity who survived a stroke led us to address the gap, with an emphasis on the risk of recurrent stroke and its trends. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the National Inpatient Sample data from 2016 to 2019. Older individuals with obesity who survived a stroke (>65 years) and had a recurrent acute ischemic stroke (AIS) hospitalization, with or without prior bariatric surgery (PBS), were identified using ICD-10 codes...

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter atrial septal defect (ASD) closure is the primary approach for treating ASD secundum; however, data on long-term outcomes remain limited. This study aimed to elucidate the prevalence of adverse outcomes following transcatheter ASD closure in a diverse population. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Songklanagarind Hospital and included patients who underwent transcatheter ASD closure between January 2010 and August 2021...

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have cardiovascular (CV) benefits, particularly in reducing the risk of heart failure (HF). Pioglitazone (Pio) has shown potential in decreasing the risks of recurrent stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), and all-cause mortality but increasing risks of HF. Our study aimed to examine the synergistic effects on CV outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who received the combined treatment of SGLT2i and Pio...

UNLABELLED: Tumefactive multiple sclerosis (TMS) is a rare variant of multiple sclerosis that presents with a large demyelinating lesion in the central nervous system, accompanied by peripheral ring-like enhancement, perilesional oedema and mass effect. We report a case of a 59-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital with a four-day history of somnolence, muscle weakness in her left extremities and ultimately, loss of consciousness. Over the following 48 hours, the patient's condition worsened with progressive consciousness impairment...

We propose a lesion-aware graph neural network (LEGNet) to predict language ability from resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) connectivity in patients with post-stroke aphasia. Our model integrates three components: an edge-based learning module that encodes functional connectivity between brain regions, a lesion encoding module, and a subgraph learning module that leverages functional similarities for prediction. We use synthetic data derived from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) for hyperparameter tuning and model pretraining...

BACKGROUND: Dementia poses a growing global mental health impact, with variations in prevalence by gender, possibly influenced by reproductive factors. Ectopic pregnancy (EP), known for its association with cardiovascular diseases and depression, which are also predictors of dementia, prompted an exploration of their interplay. METHODS: Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, this nationwide cohort study examined 53,096 individuals to investigate the link between EP and dementia...

INTRODUCTION: Cerebral infarction, the blockage of blood vessels in the brain, is generally an age-related illness. Factors such as unhealthy diets, stressful behaviours and decreased environmental consistency with physiological barriers also contribute to increased casualties. Long-term brain function reconstruction and successful drug therapy are needed. The most frequent malignant brain tumour, glioblastoma, has been linked to variations in mitochondrial ROS, chaperone-mediated autophagy, and the interaction between lncRNA (BC200) and miRNA...

RATIONALE: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cardiac genetic disorder caused by sarcomeric gene variants and associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction. The role of the microtubule network has recently gained interest with the findings that microtubule detyrosination (dTyr-MT) is markedly elevated in heart failure. Acute reduction of dTyr-MT by inhibition of the detyrosinase (VASH [vasohibin]/SVBP [small VASH-binding protein] complex) or activation of the tyrosinase (TTL [tubulin tyrosine ligase]) markedly improved contractility and reduced stiffness in human failing cardiomyocytes and thus posed a new perspective for HCM treatment...

To achieve cardiovascular health (CVH) equity in the United States, an understanding of the social and structural factors that contribute to differences and disparities in health is necessary. The Asian American population is the fastest-growing racial group in the United States but remains persistently underrepresented in health research. There is heterogeneity in how individual Asian American ethnic groups experience CVH and cardiovascular disease outcomes, with certain ethnic groups experiencing a higher burden of adverse social conditions, disproportionately high burden of suboptimal CVH, or excess adverse cardiovascular disease outcomes...

Peripheral arterial disease is the third leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity after coronary artery disease and stroke. Lower limb peripheral arterial disease commonly involves infrainguinal arteries, may impair walking ability (intermittent claudication) and may confer a significant risk of limb loss (chronic limb-threatening ischaemia), depending on the severity of ischaemia. Endovascular treatment has become the mainstay revascularisation option in both the femoropopliteal and the below-the-knee arterial segments...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the temporal association between first diagnosis of gout and cardiovascular events in the short-term. METHODS: We performed a self-controlled case series analysis and a cohort study using data from linked primary care, hospitalisation, and mortality records from the UK's Clinical Practice Research Database (GOLD). We included individuals with a new diagnosis of gout either in the primary care or secondary care between 01/01/1997 and 31/12/2020...

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence of circadian biology may influence the physiopathologic mechanism, progression, and recovery of stroke. However, few data have shown about circadian rhythm on futile recanalization (FR) in patients treated with endovascular treatment (EVT). METHODS: From 2017 to 2021, an observational cohort of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) underwent EVT was conducted. FR was defined as the failure to achieve functional independence in patients at 90 days after EVT, although the occluded vessels reached a recanalization...

Mobile Health (mHealth) applications are transforming stroke rehabilitation, through personalized care and datadriven insights. These applications employ AI-driven algorithms, tele-rehabilitation, wearable technologies, and gamification to enhance recovery process. The objective of this mini review is to explore the transformative role of Mobile Health (mHealth) applications in stroke rehabilitation, highlighting its capacity to transcend geographical barriers and establish extensive support networks connecting stroke survivors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals...

BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke (IS) is a severe neurological disorder with a pathogenesis that remains incompletely understood. Recently, a novel form of cell death known as disulfidptosis has garnered significant attention in the field of ischemic stroke research. This study aims to investigate the mechanistic roles of disulfidptosis-related genes (DRGs) in the context of IS and to examine their correlation with immunopathological features. METHODS: To enhance our understanding of the mechanistic underpinnings of disulfidptosis in IS, we initially retrieved the expression profile of peripheral blood from human IS patients from the GEO database...

BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke belongs to "apoplexy" and its pathogenesis is characterized by qi deficiency and blood stasis combining with phlegm-damp clouding orifices. Buqi-Huoxue-Tongnao decoction (BHTD) is a traditional Chinese medicine formula for qi deficiency, blood stasis and phlegm obstruction syndrome. However, its efficacy and potential mechanism on ischemic stroke are still unclear. This study aims to investigate the protective effect and potential mechanism of BHTD against ischemic stroke...

Ischemic stroke (IS) results in the interruption of blood flow to the brain, which can cause significant damage. The pathophysiological mechanisms of IS include ionic imbalances, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and impairment of brain barriers. Brain barriers, such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier (B-CSF), protect the brain from harmful substances by regulating the neurochemical environment. Although the BBB is widely recognized for its crucial role in protecting the brain and its involvement in conditions such as stroke, the B-CSF requires further study...

BACKGROUND: Past research has shown an inverse correlation between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and coronary heart disease (CHD), while recent studies have shown that extremely high or low HDL levels increase the risk of cardiovascular death. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationships between HDL subtypes and the degree of coronary artery stenosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: This was a single-center cross-sectional study...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Previous studies have not found a consistent association between circulating proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) levels and the risk of cardiovascular events partly due to measurement methods that cannot distinguish between uncleaved and furin-cleaved forms of PCSK9. METHODS: This is a prespecified sub-study of the REAL-CAD study which is a prospective, multicenter, randomized trial to compare high- versus low-dose statin in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD)...

BACKGROUND: Connexin 43 (Cx43) plays a crucial role in mediating intracellular communication and facitating the interaction between exosomes and recipient cells. This study investigates whether the activation of cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) can regulate exosomal Cx43 expression and contribute to the functional recovery following ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. METHODS: An intraluminal vascular occlusion was performed on Lewis rats to simulate I/R injury. Concurrently, a PKA activator (8-Bromo-cAMP, 5 mg/kg) or PKA inhibitor (H 89 2HCl, 20 mg/kg) was administered intravenously via the tail vein (n = 10)...