Characterization of Meningitis and Meningoencephalitis in the Israeli Defense Forces From 2004 to 2015: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Meningitis and meningoencephalitis (MME) are potential medical emergencies. Mandatory reporting of all MME cases in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) allows accurate characterization of MME incidence and course. In the present study, we described the epidemiology of MME in soldiers. Methods: Medical charts of 860,000 combat and non-combat soldiers serving during the years 2004-2015, accounting for 2,256,060 patient years, were retrospectively evaluated. The diagnosis of MME was based on signs of meningeal irritation and a count of > 5 white blood cells (WBC) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Data on the diagnosis of bacterial or aseptic MME, significant sequelae, and associated mortality were collected. Results: Approximately 273 cases of MME were diagnosed. Overall, MME incidence was 12.1/100,000 patient-years. Bacterial and viral pathogens were identified in 31/273 (11.4%) and 52/273 (19%) cases, respectively. Combat soldiers had higher incidence of bacterial meningitis [14/40 (35%) vs. 31/212 (14.6%); p = 0.002] and meningoencephalitis [13/40 (32.5%) vs. 33/212 (15.6%); p = 0.023] compared to non-combat soldiers. Their clinical presentation was more severe, including confusion [10/40 (25%) vs. 22/212 (10.4%); p = 0.018], focal neurological deficits [12/40 (30%) vs. 11/212 (5.2%); p < 0.0001], and status epilepticus [3/40 (7.5%) vs. 0/212 (0.0%); p < 0.01]. Mortality among combat soldiers was higher [5/40 (15%) vs. 1/212 (0.5%); p < 0.001]. N. meningitidis was the most frequently isolated bacteria, despite universal preventative vaccination. Conclusion: The incidence of bacterial MME in the IDF is higher than in the civilian population. Combat soldiers present with higher incidence of meningoencephalitis and bacterial meningitis.

A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a unified brain system manages one's orientation to different places, events and people in one's environment, and test the hypothesis that failure of this system (disorientation) is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: A total of 46 participants (patients along the AD continuum and cognitively normal control subjects) were tested in a personalized, ecologically valid task of orientation relating to the participant's own world in space, time and person under high-density electroencephalography. As a first step, we used evoked potential mapping to search for brain topography correlated with participants' performance in orientating themselves to different places (space), events (time) and people (person) (Experiment 1). We then compared behavioral and electrophysiological changes in patients along the AD continuum (Experiment 2). RESULTS: We identified a specific brain topography ("orientation map") that was active for orientation in space, time and person in correlation to participants' performance. Both performance and the map's strength gradually decreased from health to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and from MCI to AD. Another map, immediately preceding the orientation map, showed the longest activity in patients with MCI, significantly more than both patients with AD and cognitively normal controls. INTERPRETATION: Our findings demonstrate that the same brain topography accounts for orientation in the different domains of space, time and person and provide a nexus between deterioration in patients' orientation with the aggravation of Alzheimer's disease.

Mental-orientation: A new approach to assessing patients across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the role of mental-orientation in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease using a novel task. METHOD: A behavioral study (Experiment 1) compared the mental-orientation task to standard neuropsychological tests in patients across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum. A functional MRI study (Experiment 2) in young adults compared activations evoked by the mental-orientation and standard-orientation tasks as well as their overlap with brain regions susceptible to Alzheimer's disease pathology. RESULTS: The mental-orientation task differentiated mild cognitively impaired and healthy controls at 95% accuracy, while the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination, Mini-Mental State Examination and standard-orientation achieved 74%, 70% and 50% accuracy, respectively. Functional MRI revealed the mental-orientation task to preferentially recruit brain regions exhibiting early Alzheimer's-related atrophy, unlike the standard-orientation test. CONCLUSIONS: Mental-orientation is suggested to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease, and consequently in early detection and follow-up of patients along the Alzheimer's disease spectrum. (PsycINFO Database Record

Intraarterial multi-modal reperfusion therapy for acute ischemic stroke: a10 year single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: Only 0.5% of stroke patients in Israel are treated with endovascular multi-modal reperfusion therapy (MMRT) each year. OBJECTIVES: To assess our experience with MMRT over the last decade. METHODS: We analyzed data from our stroke registry of patients undergoing MMRT during 2002-2011. All patients underwent multi-parametric imaging studies including subtraction angiography according to a predetermined algorithm. Stroke severity was measured with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Disability was measured with the modified Ranking Scale (mRS) and classified as favorable (mRS < or = 2) or unfavorable. Target vessel recanalization was determined with the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) scale. RESULTS: During the study period 204 patients were treated; 166 of them had complete data sets including mRS scores at 90 days and were included in the analysis. Favorable outcomes at 90 days post-stroke were observed in 37% of patients and the mortality rate was 25%. Patients with favorable outcomes were younger, had significantly lower NIHSS scores on admission and discharge, and more often had complete target vessel recanalization (TIMI 3). On regression analysis the only factor associated with favorable outcome was TIMI 3, whereas increasing age and NIHSS scores on admission and discharge were predictors of poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that MMRT can be successfully implemented in patients with severe stroke in Israel. More than a third of our patients with severe ischemic strokes who could not receive acute treatment were functionally independent after MMRT, demonstrating that this procedure is an important alternative for patients who are not candidates for intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) or do not achieve recanalization with tPA.