Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in COVID-19: A New York Metropolitan Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with hypercoagulability. We sought to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of cerebral venous thrombosis among patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at 6 tertiary care centers in the New York City metropolitan area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study of 13,500 consecutive patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized between March 1 and May 30, 2020. RESULTS: Of 13,500 patients with COVID-19, twelve had imaging-proved cerebral venous thrombosis with an incidence of 8.8 per 10,000 during 3 months, which is considerably higher than the reported incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis in the general population of 5 per million annually. There was a male preponderance (8 men, 4 women) and an average age of 49 years (95% CI, 36-62 years; range, 17-95 years). Only 1 patient (8%) had a history of thromboembolic disease. Neurologic symptoms secondary to cerebral venous thrombosis occurred within 24 hours of the onset of the respiratory and constitutional symptoms in 58% of cases, and 75% had venous infarction, hemorrhage, or both on brain imaging. Management consisted of anticoagulation, endovascular thrombectomy, and surgical hematoma evacuation. The mortality rate was 25%. CONCLUSIONS: Early evidence suggests a higher-than-expected frequency of cerebral venous thrombosis among patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Cerebral venous thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of neurologic syndromes associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

MRI Brain Findings in 126 Patients with COVID-19: Initial Observations from a Descriptive Literature Review.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recently, numerous investigational studies, case series, and case reports have been published describing various MR imaging brain findings in patients with COVID-19. The purpose of this literature review was to compile and analyze brain MR imaging findings in patients with COVID-19-related illness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Literature searches of PubMed, publicly available Internet search engines, and medical journal Web sites were performed to identify articles published before May 30, 2020 that described MR imaging brain findings in patients with COVID-19. RESULTS: Twenty-two articles were included in the analysis: 5 investigational studies, 6 case series, and 11 case reports, encompassing MR imaging of the brain in 126 patients. The articles originated from 7 different countries and were published in 14 medical journals. MR imaging brain findings included specific diagnoses (such as acute infarct, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome) or specific imaging features (such as cortical FLAIR signal abnormality, microhemorrhages). CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent diagnoses made on brain MR imaging in patients with COVID-19 were acute and subacute infarcts. Other common findings included a constellation of leukoencephalopathy and microhemorrhages, leptomeningeal contrast enhancement, and cortical FLAIR signal abnormality.

Vessel Wall Enhancement and Focal Cerebral Arteriopathy in a Pediatric Patient with Acute Infarct and COVID-19 Infection.

Herein, we report the findings of intracranial arterial wall enhancement, consistent with focal cerebral arteriopathy-inflammatory type, in a child presenting with acute infarct in the setting of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. To our knowledge, this report provides the first description of vessel wall imaging findings in COVID-19-associated acute stroke.

Bush's and Clinton's fat cats.

As the 1992 presidential race went into full swing, Republican and Democratic fundraisers were busy soliciting $100,000 donations from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals. This kind of money is supposedly illegal in presidential campaigns, but both parties have found a way to launder it: by channeling it through their state affiliates and calling it "soft money." Whatever its name, it is compromising the integrity of the system.

Piracetam and dyslexia: effects on reading tests.

Previous research has suggested that dyslexics treated with piracetam have shown improvements in reading skills, verbal memory and verbal conceptualizing ability, feature analysis, and processing of letter-like stimuli. Two hundred twenty-five dyslexic children between the ages of 7 years 6 months and 12 years 11 months whose reading skills were significantly below their intellectual capacity were enrolled in a multicenter, 36-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Children of below average intelligence, with abnormal findings on audiologic, ophthalmologic, neurologic, psychiatric, and physical examinations, who were emotionally disturbed or educationally deprived and who had recently been treated with psychoactive medication were excluded from the trial. Piracetam was well tolerated, with no serious adverse clinical or laboratory effects reported. Piracetam-treated children showed significant improvements in reading ability (Gray Oral Reading Test) and reading comprehension (Gilmore Oral Reading Test). Treatment effects were evident after 12 weeks and were sustained for the total period (36 weeks).