Stroke remains a major cause of death and disability, highlighting the intimate relationship between cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Despite substantial advances in diagnosis and treatment, marked disparities in access to care and clinical outcomes continue to exist. As such, stroke remains a shared challenge for primary care physicians, cardiologists, and neurologists, emphasizing the need for effective prevention, timely intervention, structured rehabilitation, and optimal secondary prevention. In this issue, we feature the Executive Summary of the 2024 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Acute Ischemic Stroke and Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the Philippines, an important resource for promoting evidence-based, patient-centered care and improving stroke outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

Stroke is the leading cause of disability worldwide and remains a major cause of death among Filipinos. Despite being the most common neurological disease, wide variations in management persist among clinicians. This CPG aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of acute stroke.

A systematic synthesis of evidence was conducted to address the diagnosis and management of both acute hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was followed. The process included: (1) generation of critical questions and outcomes (2) retrieval of current and relevant evidence, (3) synthesis and appraisal of the evidence base, (4) formulation of draft recommendations, (5) deliberation by a multi-sectoral stakeholder panel on feasibility, values and preferences to assess the strength of recommendations and (6) planning for dissemination, implementation, impact evaluation and updating.

Sixteen clinical questions were addressed leading to 21 recommendations. Most were strong recommendations supported by moderate to high certainty of evidence. The recommendations span the spectrum of acute stroke care, including early diagnosis with imaging, admission to stroke units, reperfusion therapies, surgical options, prevention of complications and the role of adjunctive treatments.

The recommendations in this CPG are intended to guide clinicians and other stakeholders in the diagnosis and management of acute stroke. They are meant to supplement, not replace, the sound clinical judgment of healthcare providers.

INTRODUCTION

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin plus P2Y12 receptor inhibitor has become a cornerstone in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the prevention of stent thrombosis. However, aspirin intolerance poses a problem in the lack of guideline-based alternatives with proven benefit. In this study, we aim to determine the efficacy and safety of cilostazol-based DAPT as an alternative treatment for aspirin among patients undergoing PCI.

A comprehensive literature search was performed. All studies that investigated cilostazol as an alternative to aspirin on top of P2Y12 inhibitors for patients undergoing PCI were included. Outcomes of interest in this meta-analysis were reduction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and bleeding.

Three cohort studies including 1,227 patients on cilostazol and 1,480 on aspirin, both with a P2Y12 inhibitor were analyzed. Pooled estimates showed no significant difference in MACE (OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.79–2.23; p = 0.29) or acute myocardial infarction (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.46–1.89; p = 0.85) between groups. However, cilostazol-based DAPT was associated with significantly less bleeding (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.27–0.99; p = 0.05). All outcomes were statistically homogeneous (p>0.1, I²CONCLUSION

Cilostazol compared to aspirin, both on top of a P2Y12 receptor inhibitor, is as efficient in the reduction of MACE and acute myocardial infarction; and even safer in terms of bleeding. Cilostazol-based DAPT may serve as an alternative to standard DAPT among aspirin-intolerant patients undergoing PCI.

Stroke remains a major cause of death and disability, highlighting the intimate relationship between cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Despite substantial advances in diagnosis and treatment, marked disparities in access to care and clinical outcomes continue to exist. As such, stroke remains a shared challenge for primary care physicians, cardiologists, and neurologists, emphasizing the need for effective prevention, timely intervention, structured rehabilitation, and optimal secondary prevention. In this issue, we feature the Executive Summary of the 2024 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Acute Ischemic Stroke and Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the Philippines, an important resource for promoting evidence-based, patient-centered care and improving stroke outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

Stroke is the leading cause of disability worldwide and remains a major cause of death among Filipinos. Despite being the most common neurological disease, wide variations in management persist among clinicians. This CPG aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of acute stroke.

A systematic synthesis of evidence was conducted to address the diagnosis and management of both acute hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was followed. The process included: (1) generation of critical questions and outcomes (2) retrieval of current and relevant evidence, (3) synthesis and appraisal of the evidence base, (4) formulation of draft recommendations, (5) deliberation by a multi-sectoral stakeholder panel on feasibility, values and preferences to assess the strength of recommendations and (6) planning for dissemination, implementation, impact evaluation and updating.

Sixteen clinical questions were addressed leading to 21 recommendations. Most were strong recommendations supported by moderate to high certainty of evidence. The recommendations span the spectrum of acute stroke care, including early diagnosis with imaging, admission to stroke units, reperfusion therapies, surgical options, prevention of complications and the role of adjunctive treatments.

The recommendations in this CPG are intended to guide clinicians and other stakeholders in the diagnosis and management of acute stroke. They are meant to supplement, not replace, the sound clinical judgment of healthcare providers.

INTRODUCTION

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin plus P2Y12 receptor inhibitor has become a cornerstone in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the prevention of stent thrombosis. However, aspirin intolerance poses a problem in the lack of guideline-based alternatives with proven benefit. In this study, we aim to determine the efficacy and safety of cilostazol-based DAPT as an alternative treatment for aspirin among patients undergoing PCI.

A comprehensive literature search was performed. All studies that investigated cilostazol as an alternative to aspirin on top of P2Y12 inhibitors for patients undergoing PCI were included. Outcomes of interest in this meta-analysis were reduction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and bleeding.

Three cohort studies including 1,227 patients on cilostazol and 1,480 on aspirin, both with a P2Y12 inhibitor were analyzed. Pooled estimates showed no significant difference in MACE (OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.79–2.23; p = 0.29) or acute myocardial infarction (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.46–1.89; p = 0.85) between groups. However, cilostazol-based DAPT was associated with significantly less bleeding (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.27–0.99; p = 0.05). All outcomes were statistically homogeneous (p>0.1, I²CONCLUSION

Cilostazol compared to aspirin, both on top of a P2Y12 receptor inhibitor, is as efficient in the reduction of MACE and acute myocardial infarction; and even safer in terms of bleeding. Cilostazol-based DAPT may serve as an alternative to standard DAPT among aspirin-intolerant patients undergoing PCI.

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a rare multi-system disease that presents significant diagnostic challenges due to its complexity and low incidence (White and Dubey, 2023). It affects males and females equally, though males may exhibit more active disease at diagnosis and often require more aggressive treatment (Liu et al., 2023). The hallmark features of EGPA include delayed-onset asthma, eosinophilia in tissues and blood, and vasculitis affecting small to medium-sized arteries (White and Dubey, 2023). EGPA falls under the category of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)‍-associated vasculitis (AAV), whereas only about half of EGPA patients test positive for ANCA (Khoury et al., 2023).
Humans ; Male ; Hemorrhage/etiology* ; Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis/complications* ; Heart Arrest/etiology* ; Early Diagnosis ; Eosinophilia/diagnosis* ; Kidney Diseases/etiology* ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome/complications* ; Middle Aged

The patient, a 10-year-old and 4-month-old boy, was admitted to the hospital "with a history of 19 days since tonsil surgery and 11 days of recurrent hematemesis". 19 days ago, bilateral endoscopic tonsil + adenoid plasma melting and bilateral tonsil fossa inferior pole suture were performed in the outer hospital, and recurrent hematemesis occurred 11 days ago, accompanied by transient fatigue and abdominal pain, diagnosis: ①Hematemesis to be investigated: postoperative tonsil bleeding? Upper gastrointestinal bleeding?②Acute moderate hemorrhagic anemia. On the first and third days of admission, the child had two sudden episodes of massive hematemesis, both of which were more than 1 000 mL, with pale lips, fatigue, and hemorrhagic shock. Bleeding was rapid and can terminate spontaneously, and emergency physical examination does not reveal a clear point of bleeding. Bilateral inferior pole sutures in the tonsillar fossa are in place. There were no obvious abnormalities in the emergency digestive endoscopy, no obvious bleeding points were detected in the tonsils and adenoids surgical area, and no obvious abnormalities were found in the neck CT angiography（CTA）. Emergency DSA-guided percutaneous selective external carotid artery intervention was performed, during which about 5 mm contrast agent overflowed at the origin of the facial artery, and a coil was implanted. The child had no active bleeding after the operation, and his life was as usual at 2 months of follow-up.
Humans ; Male ; Child ; Tonsillectomy/adverse effects* ; Postoperative Hemorrhage/therapy* ; Palatine Tonsil/surgery* ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVES: We propose a multi-feature fusion model based on manually extracted features and deep learning features from endoscopic images for grading rebleeding risk of peptic ulcers. METHODS: Based on the endoscopic appearance of peptic ulcers, color features were extracted to distinguish active bleeding (Forrest I) from non-bleeding ulcers (Forrest II and III). The edge and texture features were used to describe the morphology and appearance of the ulcers in different grades. By integrating deep features extracted from a deep learning network with manually extracted visual features, a multi-feature representation of endoscopic images was created to predict the risk of rebleeding of peptic ulcers. RESULTS: In a dataset consisting of 3573 images from 708 patients with Forrest classification, the proposed multi-feature fusion model achieved an accuracy of 74.94% in the 6-level rebleeding risk classification task, outperforming the experienced physicians who had a classification accuracy of 59.9% (P<0.05). The F1 scores of the model for identifying Forrest Ib, IIa, and III ulcers were 90.16%, 75.44%, and 77.13%, respectively, demonstrating particularly good performance of the model for Forrest Ib ulcers. Compared with the first model for peptic ulcer rebleeding classification, the proposed model had improved F1 scores by 5.8%. In the simplified 3-level risk (high-risk, low-risk, and non-endoscopic treatment) classification task, the model achieved F1 scores of 93.74%, 81.30%, and 73.59%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The proposed multi-feature fusion model integrating deep features from CNNs with manually extracted visual features effectively improves the accuracy of rebleeding risk classification for peptic ulcers, thus providing an efficient diagnostic tool for clinical assessment of rebleeding risks of peptic ulcers.
Humans ; Deep Learning ; Peptic Ulcer ; Risk Assessment ; Peptic Ulcer Hemorrhage ; Recurrence

The nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a crucial role in the prognosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). WNK1 kinase negatively regulates NLRP3 in various inflammatory conditions, but its role in early brain injury (EBI) after SAH remains unclear. In this study, we used an in vivo SAH model in rats/mice and AAV-WNK1 intraventricular injection to investigate its neuroprotective mechanisms. WNK1 expression was significantly reduced in SAH patient blood and SAH model brain tissue, correlating negatively with microglial activation. AAV-WNK1 alleviated brain edema, neuronal necrosis, behavioral deficits, and inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In hemin-stimulated BV-2 cells, WNK1 overexpression reduced NLRP3 activation and inflammatory cytokines. Chloride counteracted WNK1's inhibitory effects, and WNK1 suppressed P2X7R-induced NLRP3 activation. Mechanistically, WNK1 functioned via the OXSR1/STK39 pathway. These findings highlight WNK1 as a key regulator of intracellular chloride balance and neuroinflammation, presenting a potential therapeutic target for SAH treatment.
Animals ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/complications* ; Inflammasomes/metabolism* ; Rats ; Mice ; Neuroinflammatory Diseases/metabolism* ; WNK Lysine-Deficient Protein Kinase 1/genetics* ; Male ; Humans ; Chlorides/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Brain Injuries/metabolism* ; Microglia/metabolism* ; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases