BACKGROUND: Severe stroke has high rates of mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to investigate the clinical course, causes of worsening, and outcomes of severe ischemic stroke. METHODS: This prospective, multicenter cohort study enrolled adult patients admitted ≤30 days after ischemic stroke from nine hospitals in China between September 2017 and December 2019. Severe stroke was defined as a score of ≥15 on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Clinical worsening was defined as an increase of 4 in the NIHSS score from baseline. Unfavorable functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin scale score ≥3 at 3 months and 1 year after stroke onset, respectively. We performed Logistic regression to explore baseline features and reperfusion therapies associated with clinical worsening and functional outcomes. RESULTS: Among 4201 patients enrolled, 854 patients (20.33%) had severe stroke on admission. Of 3347 patients without severe stroke on admission, 142 (4.24%) patients developed severe stroke in hospital. Of 854 patients with severe stroke on admission, 33.95% (290/854) experienced clinical worsening (median time from stroke onset: 43 h, Q1-Q3: 20-88 h), with brain edema (54.83% [159/290]) as the leading cause; 24.59% (210/854) of these patients died by 30 days, and 81.47% (677/831) and 78.44% (633/807) had unfavorable functional outcomes at 3 months and 1 year respectively. Reperfusion reduced the risk of worsening (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.24, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.12-0.49, P  <0.01), 30-day death (adjusted OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.11-0.41, P  <0.01), and unfavorable functional outcomes at 3 months (adjusted OR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.08-0.68, P <0.01) and 1 year (adjusted OR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06-0.50, P  <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one-fifth of patients with ischemic stroke had severe neurological deficits on admission. Clinical worsening mainly occurred in the first 3 to 4 days after stroke onset, with brain edema as the leading cause of worsening. Reperfusion reduced the risk of clinical worsening and improved functional outcomes. REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03222024.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Prospective Studies ; Ischemic Stroke/mortality* ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Stroke ; Brain Ischemia

Mechanical thrombectomy is the most effective method for the treatment of adult acute ischemic stroke caused by occlusion of large blood vessels. Compared with traditional therapy, the curative effect is greatly improved. The evidence-based medicine evidence of the treatment is sufficient, and the efficacy is safe and reliable. Since 2015, it has been recommended by the guidelines of various countries. In 2018, the time window of mechanical thrombectomy has been extended from six hours to 24 hours, which benefits more adult patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, due to the lack of high-quality clinical research, there is no corresponding guide recommendation in children, which greatly limits its clinical application. There are some cases of mechanical thrombectomy in children and a few retrospective studies show that it is safe and effective in children in the world, but there are also some challenges. The article reviewed the challenges and implementation plan of thrombectomy in children to provide reference for clinical practice.

Objective To analyze the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and moxibustion in treating acute cerebral infarction.Methods A thorough literature search of randomized and controlled tests of acupuncture and moxibustion in treating the acute cerebral infarction was conducted.A meta-analysis was performed using version 5.3 of the ReviewManager software.Results Thirty-nine reports covering 3792 cases were found and analyzed.The neurologic impairment analysis found that in the experimental group mean difference (MD) was-1.86,with the 95％ credibility interval (CI) of between-2.06 and-1.66 showing significant differences compared with the control group.The average clinical effectiveness rate of the experimental groups was 3.95,with a 95％ CI of between-3.02 and 5.16,significantly higher than the control groups'.The experimental groups' markedly effective rate was 1.54,with a 95％ CI of 1.40 to 1.70,showing significant differences compared with the control groups.Conclusion Acupuncture and moxibustion are effective in treating acute cerebral infarction.They are worth popularizing in clinical practice.

Objective To explore the effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)on the ratio of CD4+CD25+Treg/CD4+T cell and the expression of TGF-β1 in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)rats. Methods We randomly divided 60 healthy female Wistar rats into normal control group,EAE control group,VIP low-dose group and VIP high-dose group.We used myelin basic protein (MBP)+ complete adjuvant (CFA)to establish EAE model. Since the day of model construction, the low- and high-dose VIP groups received intraperitoneal injection of 4 nmol/kg (0.2 mL)and 16 nmol/kg (0.8 mL)of VIP every other day,respectively;normal control group and EAE group received injection of saline of 0.8 mL for 10 days in a row.We recorded the peak of neurological dysfunction score (NDS)changes in the rats,observed the pathological changes and GFAP+astrocyte activation in the brain at the morbidity peak of rats with HE staining,and detected the ratio of CD4+CD25+Treg/CD4+T in the spleen with FACS and TGF-β1 cytokine level in brain tissue with ELISA.Results The peak nerve dysfunction score was decreased in each VIP dose group.In normal control group,there were decreased inflammatory cell infiltration and decreased number of active astrocytes in the brain tissue.The degree of infiltration of inflammatory cells and astrocyte activation in VIP control groups were significantly lower than those in EAE group.The CD4+CD25+Treg/CD4+T cell ratio of the spleen tissue in each dose VIP treated group rats was higher than that in EAE control group.The cytokine level of TGF-β1 in the brain tissue increased in each VIP dose group in the dose-dependent manner.Conclusion Through up-regulating the ratio of CD4+CD25+Treg/CD4+T cell in the spleen tissue,increasing TGF-β1 content in brain tissue,and inhibiting the infiltration of inflammatory cells and the astrocyte activation,VIP plays an important role in prevention and control of EAE.

Objective To investigate the effect of doxycycline on the Th1/Th2 cell balance in experimental allergic encepha-lomyelitis(EAE)rats.Methods Forty female Wistar rats were randomly divided into the EAE control group,low,medium and high does DOX treatment groups,10 cases in each group.The onset situation in rats was observed.The IL-4 and IFN-γlevels secreted by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)at the peak stage were detected.The levels of IL-1β,IL-10,TNF-αin brain tissue,and the albumin content in cerebrospinal fluid and serum were detected.The QA value was calculated.Results In each DOX group,the clinical symptoms of rats were alleviated compared with the EAE control group.In each DOX group,the PBMC secreting IFN-γlev-el and IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio in the onset peak stage were lower than those in the EAE control group,while the IL-4 level was higher than that in the EAE control group(P <0.01).Compared with the medium-dose DOX group,the increase of IL-4 level in the high-dose DO group was unapparent(P >0.05),but the difference between other DOX groups had statistical significance(P <0.01).The IL-1βand TNF-αlevels of brain tissue and QA value during onset peak stage in various doses DOX groups were decreased compared with the EAE control group,while the IL-10 level was increased compared with the EAE control group(P <0.05).With the DOX dose increasing,the levels of IL-1β,TNF-αand QA value in various doses DOX groups became lower,the IL-10 level became high-er,there was statistically significant difference among various doses DOX groups (P <0.05 ).Conclusion DOX can obviously alle-viate the clinical symptoms of EAE rats,its mechanism may be related with that DOX could decrease the level of Th1 cytokine and increase the level of Th2 cytokine,correct the Th1/Th2 cell balance,thus protect the blood brain barrier(BBB).

Objective To discuss the effects of Paclitaxel(PTX) on levels of CD28 and CTLA-4,B lymphocyte stimulator(BAFF) in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(EAE).Methods The 50 rats were divided into 5 groups by the random number table, 10 rats in each group,the doses of small group,Middle group, High group were 1 mg/kg,2 mg/kg,4 mg/kg by intraperitoneal injection for 10 consecutive days, the normal group and model group were injected 0.9% NS 2 mL,Using brain tissue score to estimate the neurological dysfunctions of rats.Using flow cytometry to detect the levels of CD28 and CTLA-4,using enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) to detect the levels of BAFF.Results The brain tissue score in PTX experimental groups were lower than model group,the comparative differences between groups were statistically significant(P < 0.01);The levels of CD28 in PTX groups were lower than EAE group,the comparative differences between groups were statistically significant(P < 0.01).The levels of CTLA-4 in PTX groups were higher than EAE group,the comparative differences between groups were statistically significant(P < 0.01);the content of BAFF in all PTX groups were lower than EAE control group.Conclusions PTX could decrease the brain tissue score,the mechanism may adjust the express of CD28、CTLA-4 in brain and the expression of BAFF.PTX may have preventive and therapeutic effects on EAE rats.

Objective To evaluate the curative effect of imipenem on stroke associated pneumonia(SAP).Methods Seventy-two inpatients with SAP in ICU of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2014 to January 2016 were selected.The patients were given the stroke associated treatment and symptomatic treatment.On this basis imipenem 1.0 g+ 0.9％ normal saline 100 mL was injected,once per 8 h.The disease condition change during treatment process was observed.The laboratory test results and chest CT changes were compared between before and after 2-week treatment.And the correlation analysis of risk factors was performed.Results Twelve cases died during treatment,60 cases were survival.The body temperature was declined to normal at 2 weeks after using imipenem.The NIHSS score,white blood cell (WBC) count,neutrophil count and C-reactive protein level after treatment were decreased compared with before treatment,the blood gas analysis showed that the arterial partial pressure of oxygen and oxygenation index were elevated compared with before treatment.The chest CT showed that pulmonary inflammatory exudation lesions and hydrothorax were absorbed and improved compared with before treatment.Among 72 cases,55 cases were cured,5 cases were remarkably effective,12 cases were ineffective,the total effective rate was 83.3 ％.The risk factors correlation analysis indicated that swallowing dysfunction,consciousness disturbance and acute attack history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were negatively correlated with the curative effect.Conclusion Imipenem has satisfactory effect in treating SAP.

Objective To analyze the clinical features and image characteristic of neuro-Behcet disease with epileptic seizure as the primary symptom. Methods The data of 4 patients with neuro-Behcet disease with epileptic seizure as the first symptom were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Results One patient had recurrent joint pain in the department of dermatology, and 1 patient had blurred vision in the department of ophthalmology. They were shifted to department of neurology because of epileptic seizure. Head CT of four patients were normal. There were abnormal signal in brainstem in 2 cases, and in the other 2 cases, there were symmetry abnormal signals in periventricle, centrum semiovale. The abnormal signal was low in T1 weighted image and high in T2 weighted image, flair, diffuse weighing imaging , but there were no abnormal signals in cortex in these 4 cases. In CSF examination, 3 patients′cell number was high, 1 patient′s cell number was normal, 2 patients′protein levels were high, and the other 2 patients′protein levels were normal. One patient had spike wave and sharp wave in video-EEG, and the other 3 patients were normal. Conclusions Epileptic seizure is rare in neuro-Behcet disease, and CT and MRI is frequently-used in diagnosing nervous system disease. There are no abnormal signals in cortex, but there are generalized tonic-clonic seizure, which may relate with the abnormal discharge of cortex.

Objective To investigate the etiological, clinical and neuroimaging features of symmetric corpus callosum lesions. Methods The clinical data of 27 patients with symmetric corpus callosum lesions were analyzed including the etiological, clinical and neuroimaging data retrospectively. Results In 27 patients, 16 patients suffered from chronic alcoholic encephalopathy, 5 patients suffered from viral encephalitis, 2 patients suffered from disturbance of water and electrolyte, 1 patient suffered from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis(ADEM), 2 patients suffered from brain trauma, and the etiology of 1 patient was unknown. Clinical manifestation: 8 patients had conscious disturbance, 5 patients had psychological and behavior disorder, 5 patients had epileptic seizure, 4 patients had ataxia, 3 patients had dysarthria and 2 patients had headache. There were abnormalities in CT scans and MRI. Manifestations in CT scans were symmetric low-density focus with clear boundary in corpus callosum. The performance in MRI was low-signals on T1WI but high signals on T2WI and DWI images, and there might be other intracranial lesions. In the follow-up period, foci disappeared in 15 patients, and foci persisted in 7 patients. Four patients lost in follow-up periods, and 1 patient was not followed up because of death. Conclusions The causes of symmetric corpus callosum lesions include chronic alcoholic encephalopathy, infections, disturbance of water and electrolyte and demyelination. And in some patients the cause is unknown up to now. The etiological treatment and symptomatic treatment are the common treating ways in clinic.

Objective To investigate the effects of minocycline on regional cerebral blood flow and the expression of endothe-lin-1(ET-1) in ischemic penumbra of rats after focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury .Methods Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with nylon suture was used to be established as focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion mode (I/R) ,a total of 35 male Spra-geue-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups :sham-operated group(n= 10) ,model group(n= 15) and minocycline group (n= 15) .After 24 hours of I/R ,The neurobehavioral function of rats was evaluated by Longa′s test ,the regional cerebral blood flow in ischemic penumbra was assessed with laser-Doppler flowmetry .After 6 and 24 hours of I/R ,the expression of ET-1 in peri-in-farct region was measured by both immunohistochemistry and radioimmunoassay .Results Compared with sham-group ,the Longa′s test scales ,ET-1 protein expression increased and the rCBF decreased in ischemic penumbra in model group(P< 0 .05) .the Longa′s test scales ,ET-1 protein expression decreased and the rCBF decreased in ischemic penumbra in minocycline group when compared to the model group(P< 0 .05) .Conclusion Minocycline could promote neurological functional recovery of rats after MCAO ,which might be attributed to increase the cerebral blood flow and regulate the endothelin-1 expression in ischemic penumbra .