Early and late mortality of spontaneous hemorrhagic transformation of ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic transformation (HT), a complication of ischemic stroke (IS), might influence patient's prognosis. Our aim is to evaluate, in a hospital-based series of patients not treated with thrombolysis, the relationship between HT and mortality. METHODS: We compared mortality of individuals with spontaneous HT with that of individuals without. Medical records of patients diagnosed with anterior IS were retrospectively reviewed. Outcome measures were 30- and 90-day survival after IS onset. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to construct survival curves. Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) for the main outcome measure (death). HT was stratified in hemorrhagic infarction and parenchymal hematoma (PH). We also evaluated the relationship between HT and the main mortality risk factors (gender, age, premorbid status, severity of stroke, and radiological features). RESULTS: Thirty days from stroke onset, 8.1% (19 of 233) of patients died. At multivariate analysis, PH (HR: 7.7, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.1, 27.8) and low level of consciousness at admission (HR: 5.0, 95% CI: 1.3, 18.6) were significantly associated with death. At 3-month follow-up, mortality rate was 12.1% (28 of 232). At multivariate analysis, large infarct size (HR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.2, 6.0) and HT (HR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.0, 5.4) were independent risk factors for mortality. Parenchymal hematoma was, however, the strongest predictor of late mortality (HR: 7.9, 95% CI: 2.9, 21.4). CONCLUSIONS: Neurological status and infarct size play a significant role, respectively, in early and late mortality after IS. Parenchymal hematoma independently predicts both early and late mortality.

Progressive necrotic encephalopathy following tacrolimus therapy for liver transplantation.

Previously described neurologic damage induced by immunosuppressive treatments includes transient or reversible central nervous system involvement. We describe a 57-year-old man who underwent liver transplantation and was started on immunosuppressive therapy with tacrolimus (FK506). Six months later, he started complaining of a progressive motor and sensory impairment of the left side, together with cognitive impairment. Brain MRI showed an enlarging lesion of the white matter with peripheral contrast enhancement. PET study indicated severe hypometabolism in the right hemisphere and spectroscopic MRI showed a peak of choline and relative reduction of other metabolites. Findings of CSF examinations and cultures, serology, and molecular techniques were normal. Tacrolimus treatment was stopped. A cerebral biopsy of the lesion showed a sub acute necrotizing process. In the following months, cognitive status of the patient tended to improve although he remained hemiplegic, while serial MRI confirmed the tendency to the recovery of the lesion that was still present 1 year after. The present observation describes a progressive encephalopathy associated with immune suppression with an unusual feature and permanent brain damage.

Frequency and determinants for hemorrhagic transformation of cerebral infarction.

BACKGROUND: Frequency and associated risk factors for hemorrhagic transformation (HT), a worrying complication of ischemic stroke (IS), are not clearly defined. Our aim was to estimate the overall frequency and risk factors for HT in a hospital-based population. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records of patients discharged from our department during the period 2004-2006 with a diagnosis of anterior IS. Demographic, clinical and hematological information was collected. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to estimate risk for spontaneous HT. RESULTS: We included 240 patients (125 males, 52%), mean age at admission was 72.5 years. HT was observed in 29 patients (12%). At univariate analysis, consciousness impairment at admission (OR 5.6, 95% CI 1.3-28.2), the presence of early CT signs (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1-5.3), infarcts of medium-large size (OR 11.3, 95% CI 4.1-30.8), cardioembolic stroke (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.1-5.2) and low total cholesterol levels (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.3-8.2) were significantly associated with HT. At multivariate analysis, only infarct size (OR 10.2, 95% CI 3.2-32.1) was still significantly associated with HT. CONCLUSIONS: Frequency of HT in our study was 12%. Consistently with previous results, HT was associated with the size of ischemic area. As patients included in our study did not receive thrombolytic therapy, our results are applicable to those patients whom clinicians, working in a hospital setting, usually deal with.

Diabetes preceding Parkinson's disease onset. A case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between diabetes preceding Parkinson's disease (PD) and PD. METHODS: PD individuals were matched to PD free individuals randomly selected from people in the same municipality as the cases. Occurrence of diabetes preceding PD onset among cases and controls was assessed through a structured questionnaire. Information regarding current and past medical treatment and other variables was also collected. We used univariate and multivariate logistic models to calculate crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR). Covariates are adjusted for included education, smoking habit, alcohol and coffee consumption. RESULTS: 318 PD individuals (165 women, 153 men) and 318 matched controls were included in the study. PD patients had a mean age at interview of 66.7 years. Mean age at PD onset was 60.8 years and mean PD duration 5.9 years. We found an inverse association between PD and diabetes preceding PD onset in all groups stratified by gender, age at PD onset, body mass index (BMI), smoking habit, alcohol and coffee consumption. Multivariate analysis yielded the same findings after controlling for the variables (adjusted OR 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.8). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide additional support for a potential link between diabetes and PD.

Predictors of caregiver burden in partners of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Aim of this study was to determine the predictors of caregiver burden among spouse caregivers of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Forty consecutive PD patients and their spouse caregivers were included. Patients were assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the Hoehn and Yahr scale (HY), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Stress and depressive symptoms among caregivers were evaluated using the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) scale and the GDS. Only PD severity (HY) and mental symptoms (NPI) were significantly associated to caregiver distress. A major attention must be given to the early identification of factors generating stress in caregivers in order to improve caregiver quality of life and patient's care.

El Perfil de Autopercepción de Harter para Adolescentes en jóvenes de Paraná, Río Gallegos y Buenos Aires / Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents in Argentinian young people from Paraná, Río Gallegos and Buenos Aires

Se aplicó una traducción al castellano del Perfil de Autopercepción de Harter para Adolescentes (1988) a una muestra de 399 estudiantes argentinos que cursaban el grado 12º en las ciudades de Paraná, Río Gallegos y Buenos Aires. La consistencia interna resultó aceptable (alfas de Cronbach entre 0,74 y 0,86) en ocho de las nueve subescalas, con la excepción de Competencia Escolar. Aunque cuatro ítems no cargaban en el factor esperable, la estructura factorial fue muy semejante a la encontrada en Estados Unidos y otros países. La diferencia según género era grande (n² parciales 15% y 3% para forma y altura de los perfiles, respectivamente) a favor de los varones. Las muestras de Buenos Aires y Paraná no diferían entre sí, pero los varones de Río Gallegos se evaluaban bastante peor (n² parcial 7%) y las chicas apenas peor (n² parcial 2%) que los de las otras ciudades. Al igual que en los Estados Unidos, Europa y el Japón, el dominio del autoconcepto más altamente correlacionado con la autoestima global era la apariencia física; la competencia escolar se asociaba en menor medida con la autoestima global en la Argentina que en dichos países.

Search for genetic factors associated with susceptibility to multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a cell-mediated autoimmune disease characterized by type-1 cytokine production. Environmental and individual genetic background might influence this response particularly in cytokine gene polymorphisms. We evaluated whether polymorphisms of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha genes, which might play a role in MS pathogenesis, are associated with MS susceptibility. Genotype frequencies for all the analyzed polymorphisms were not differently distributed between cases and controls. It is reasonable to suppose that the cytokine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) studied must be considered against a larger genetic background involving other functional SNPs of Th1 regulator elements such as IL-21 and IL-23.