ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pakistan is the sixth most populous nation in the world and has an estimated 4 million stroke survivors. Most survivors are taken care of by community-based caregivers, and there are no inpatient rehabilitation facilities. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of locally designed 5-min movies rolled out in order of relevance that are thematically delivered in a 3-month program to deliver poststroke education to stroke survivor and caregiver dyads returning to the community. METHODS: This study was a randomized controlled, outcome assessor-blinded, parallel group, single-center superiority trial in which participants (stroke survivor-caregiver dyads) with first-ever stroke (both ischemic and hemorrhagic) incidence were randomized within 48 hours of their stroke into either the video-based education intervention group or the control group. The video-based education intervention group had health education delivered through short videos that were shown to the participants and their caregivers at the time of admission, before discharge, and the first and third months of follow-up after discharge. The control group had standardized care including predischarge education and counseling according to defined protocols. All participants enrolled in the video education intervention and control groups were followed for 12 months after discharge for outcome assessment in the outpatient stroke clinics. The primary outcome measures were the proportion of participants achieving control of blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol in the video intervention versus the control group. Several predefined secondary outcomes were included in this study, of which we report the mortality and functional disability in this paper. Analysis was by performed using the intention-to-treat principle. RESULTS: A total of 310 stroke survivors and their caregiver dyads (participant dyads) were recruited over a duration of 6 months. In total, 155 participant dyads were randomized into the intervention and control groups, each. The primary outcome of control of three major risk factors revealed that at 12 months, there was a greater percentage of participants with a systolic BP<125 mm Hg (18/54, 33% vs 11/52, 21%; P=.16), diastolic BP<85 mm Hg (44/54, 81% vs 37/52, 71%; P=.21), HbA1c level<7% (36/55, 65% vs 30/40, 75%; P=.32), and low-density lipoprotein level<100 mg/dL (36/51, 70% vs 30/45, 67%; P=.68) in the intervention group than in the control group. The secondary outcome reported is the mortality among the stroke survivors because the number of stroke-related complications was higher in the control group than in the intervention group (13/155, 8.4% vs 2/155, 1.3%), and this difference was statistically significant (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Movies4Stroke trial failed to achieve its primary specified outcome. However, secondary outcomes that directly related to survival skills of stroke survivors demonstrated the effectiveness of the video-based intervention on improving stroke-related mortality and survival without disability. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02202330; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02202330.
Subject(s)
Cell Phone , Mobile Applications , Stroke , Adult , Caregivers , Female , Health Education , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Motion Pictures , Risk Factors , Stroke/mortality , Tissue Plasminogen ActivatorABSTRACT
We report a case of malignant posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in a 62-year-old Caucasian female with a complex medical history and comorbidities admitted for bowel resection and lysis of iatrogenic bowel adhesions and enterocutaneous fistulas. Postoperatively, the patient developed sudden bilateral visual loss with no other neurologic deficits. Computed tomography scan showed very severe PRES-like changes, confirmed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Systolic blood pressure remained around 170 mm HG. The patient was obtunded and remained unresponsive after MRI, with minimal response and a deteriorating clinical condition. The patient was given hyperosmolar therapy with a mannitol bolus. She recovered well with near resolution of imaging findings.
ABSTRACT
Background. We present a rare case of bilateral moyamoya disease presenting as multiple strokes and neurological deficits, treated with the neurosurgical procedure, encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS), in a 2-year-old male Pakistani minor. A positive outcome was achieved and the patient recovered fully. Case Summary. Our patient presented with a history of seizures and multiple episodes of hemiparesis (on and off weakness) at the age of 2 years. He had a delayed speech development and could not speak more than a few words. He had a slight slurring of speech too. He was diagnosed with bilateral moyamoya disease on Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA). Bilateral EDAS was done in the same year, after which his symptoms improved and patient had moderate functional recovery. Conclusion. A rare disease, moyamoya has been left unexplored in Pakistan; physicians and surgeons when dealing with cases in the pediatric population presenting with symptoms of stroke, signs of generalized weakness, and seizures should consider moyamoya disease as a possibility. Furthermore, this case demonstrates the effectiveness of EDAS procedure for the treatment of moyamoya disease.
