Vasculitis in the Central Nervous System: Etiology, Characteristics, and Outcomes in a Large Single-Center Cohort.

Background and Purpose: For the management of central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis, it is crucial to differentiate between primary and secondary CNS vasculitis and to understand the respective etiologies. We assessed the etiology, characteristics, and outcomes of patients with CNS vasculitis. Methods: A single-center retrospective chart review was conducted at the University of Utah, Department of Neurology, between February 2011 and October 2022. Results: The median age of the 44 included patients at diagnosis was 54 years; 25.0% were men. Compared to primary CNS vasculitis, secondary CNS vasculitis exhibits higher fever incidence (observed in infectious and connective tissue disorder [CTD]-associated vasculitis), low glucose levels (mostly in infectious vasculitis) and unique cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands (observed in infectious and CTD-associated vasculitis). Patients with inflammatory cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) were older and more commonly had microhemorrhage than primary angiitis of the CNS (PACNS). All patients with CTD-associated vasculitis had a known history of CTD at presentation. Brain biopsies were performed on 10 of 17 PACNS patients and 4 of 8 inflammatory CAA patients, confirming vasculitis in 7 and 4 patients, respectively. Intravenous methylprednisolone was the predominant induction therapy (63.6%), and cyclophosphamide was the most used adjunctive therapy. Cyclophosphamide, rituximab, azathioprine, and mycophenolate mofetil were utilized as maintenance therapy, often with concurrent prednisone. Patients with inflammatory CAA had a higher tendency for relapse rates than PACNS. Conclusions: This study highlights the variations in patients' characteristics, symptoms, and treatment for CNS vasculitis. Understanding these differences can lead to more efficient diagnostic and management strategies.

Intraperitoneal seeding of a testicular mixed germ cell tumor following spontaneous intraperitoneal mass rupture with associated anti-NMDA paraneoplastic encephalitis.

A 25-year-old male was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit for neurologic deterioration, likely caused by a paraneoplastic syndrome secondary to testicular malignancy. He experienced spontaneous rupture and hemorrhage of his testicular mass arising from an undescended testis while admitted. The tumor was excised, revealing a mixed germ cell tumor. Serum tumor markers began to rise after 4 cycles of chemotherapy. Surveillance scans 32 weeks after mass rupture revealed numerous tumor deposits throughout his peritoneum concerning for teratoma. We review a case of intraperitoneal metastasis of a testicular mixed germ cell tumor following intra-abdominal mass rupture.

Direct cost analysis of rapid MRI in the emergency department evaluation of patients suspected of having acute ischemic stroke*.

BACKGROUND: Abbreviated "rapid MRI" protocols have become more common for the evaluation of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Prior research has not evaluated the effect of rapid MRIs on cost or hospital length of stay in AIS patients. METHODS: We retrospectively identified AIS patients who presented within 6 h of acute neurologic symptom onset to an emergency department (ED) and activated a "brain attack" code. We included sequential patients from January 2012 to September 2015, before rapid MRI was available, who had CT perfusion (CTP) and compared them to patients from October 2015 to May 2018 who had a rapid MRI. We used inverse-probability-weighting (IPW) to balance the cohorts. The primary outcomes were direct cost to our healthcare system and total hospital length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: We included 408 brain attack activations (mean ± SD age 62.1 ± 17.6 years, 47.8% male): 257 in the CTP cohort and 151 in the MRI cohort. Discharge diagnosis was ischemic stroke in 193/408 (47.3%). After patient matching, we found significant reductions for the MRI cohort in total cost (-18.7%, 95% CI -35.0, -2.4, p = 0.02) and hospital LOS (-17.0%, 95% CI -31.2, -2.8, p = 0.02), with no difference in ED LOS (p = 0.74) as compared to the CTP cohort. CONCLUSION: Although these results are preliminary and hypothesis-generating, we found that the use of a rapid MRI protocol in emergency department brain attacks was associated with a 18.7% reduction in total direct cost and 17% reduction in hospital length of stay.

Acute Treatment of Ischemic Stroke.

Ischemic stroke affects 2.5% of the population of the United States and is the leading cause of disability. This article outlines the evidence to support intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase and tenecteplase, thrombolysis in the setting of DWI/flair mismatch, endovascular treatment in the 6-hour and 6- to 24-hour window, and the use of telemedicine in acute stroke. Current controversies and ongoing trials within endovascular treatment are also detailed. Case presentations are included to provide clinical context and the application of data to practice.

Intravascular Lymphomatosis Presenting with Spinal Cord Infarction and Recurrent Ischemic Strokes.

Intravascular lymphomatosis (IVL) is a rare subtype of large B-cell lymphoma that follows an aggressive course with rapidly progressive neurological involvement and potentially fatal outcome.1 We report on a 64-year-old man with progressive myelopathy at T6-T7 and recurrent cerebral infarctions. This case is illustrative of the clinical course that is seen in IVL. It aims to present a timeline of imaging findings that demonstrate the progression of disease and characteristic pathology findings. We emphasize the importance of IVL on the differential diagnosis of spinal cord infarction.