Franziska Lieschke

Background: The timing of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) onsets follow distinct daily patterns, but it remains unclear whether these patterns influence ICH outcomes. Methods: Consecutive data were obtained from the prospective stroke inpatient quality assurance registry of Hesse, Germany from 2015 to 2023. Patients with ICH were grouped according to the time of symptom onset: morning (5:00 AM to 10:59 AM), midday (11:00 AM to 4:59 PM), evening (5:00 PM to 10:59 PM), and night (11:00 PM to 4:59 AM). The primary outcome was global disability at discharge, analyzed using ordinal logistic regression. Secondary outcomes included mortality and complications during hospitalization. To account for potential confounding, the analysis incorporated both inverse probability weighting (IPW) and propensity score matching (PSM) based on baseline characteristics. Results: After exclusions, 5665 patients underwent final analysis. Peak ICH incidences occurred around 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM with a minimum at approximately midnight. Patients experiencing ICH during the evening and particularly at night had higher discharge disability, compared to those with symptom onset in the morning or midday. Unadjusted analyses found daily variations in mortality and in‐hospital complications that were no longer significant after adjustment by PSM or IPW. Conclusion: Our study confirms the daily pattern previously observed in ICH onset, with peak onset during daytime. Functional outcomes were worse in evening and night onset ICH patients. These findings underscore the potential for chronobiologically informed prevention and treatment strategies and the need for further research into time‐dependent pathophysiology and care delivery.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is increasingly prevalent in older age groups, many of whom receive dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). The impact of DAPT on post-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and mortality remains controversial. This study investigates ICH in a mouse TBI model under DAPT and explores the potential protective effects of 12/15-lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibition. Male C57BL6 mice received aspirin and clopidogrel in drinking water for 3 days before TBI induction via controlled cortical impact (CCI). The 12/15-LOX inhibitor BPN-27332 was administered i.p. 1 h after CCI. ICH and edema volumes were quantified 24 h post-injury, functional outcomes were assessed over 7 days, and lesion volumes were analyzed on day 7. DAPT significantly increased ICH (36.56 ± 7.1 vs 6.72 ± 2.12 mm ² , p = 0.0004) and edema (21.86% ± 2.0% vs 5.94% ± 2.04%, p = 0.0002). BPN-27332 reduced ICH (29.03 ± 4.97 vs 43.99 ± 4.54 mm ² , p = 0.038) and edema (7.98% ± 4.61% vs 26.11% ± 3.76%, p = 0.0064) in mice under DAPT. No significant functional differences were observed. Lesion volumes tended to be smaller in the BPN-27332 treated mice. DAPT exacerbates ICH risk in experimental TBI, while 12/15-LOX inhibition may help reduce post-traumatic ICH and edema.

Background: From visual, ocular, and pupillomotor abnormalities to qualitative and more importantly rapid quantitative disturbances of consciousness, top of the basilar artery syndrome (TOBS) represents a diagnostic challenge in neurocritical care. In this monocentric retrospective cross-sectional study, we will describe this particular patient group in detail and highlight its variability and the associated implications. Methods: Consecutive patients with radiologically confirmed TOBS presenting to our comprehensive stroke center were analyzed from 2010 to 2022. Baseline parameters at admission, including clinical symptoms, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and imaging parameters (mode and success of recanalization measured by the Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction [TICI] score, extent of infarct, and infarct localization), were assessed. Functional dependence at discharge was analyzed with the modified Rankin scale (mRS) and Barthel Index. Results: We assessed 96 eligible patients with a mean age of 70 (SD ± 14) years, 41.67% of whom were female. The median NIHSS score at admission was 19 (interquartile range [IQR] 8–35), and the median GCS score was 7 (IQR 3–15). Dysphagia was identified in 51.72% of patients, with a significant number discharged with nasogastric tubes. Most patients received both intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) (47%), whereas 32% received MT only, and 10% received no acute recanalizing therapy. Patients receiving both IVT and MT had higher frequencies of successful vessel revascularization (higher TICI scores) and better clinical outcomes compared to those receiving only MT (median mRS score 4 [IQR 2–5] vs. 5 [IQR 2–6], p = 0.046). Multivariable regression analysis confirmed that successful recanalization (TICI) and GCS score at admission were key predictors of functional outcomes. Conclusions: A large proportion of patients presenting with TOBS were severely affected by a significant reduction in vigilance, a condition that persists in the absence of recanalization and is then associated with a relevant dependency.

Purpose: We aimed to re-evaluate the relationship between thalamic infarct (TI) localization and clinical symptoms using a vascular (VTM) and a novel functional territorial thalamic map (FTM). Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical data of 65 patients with isolated TI were evaluated (female n = 23, male n = 42, right n = 23, left n = 42). A VTM depicted the known seven thalamic vascular territories (VT: inferolateral, anterolateral, inferomedial, posterior, central, anteromedian, posterolateral). An FTM was generated from a probabilistic thalamic nuclei atlas to determine six functionally defined territories (FT: anterior: memory/emotions; ventral: motor/somatosensory/language; medial: behavior/emotions/nociception, oculomotor; intralaminar: arousal/pain; lateral: visuospatial/somatosensory/conceptual and analytic thinking; posterior: audiovisual/somatosensory). Four neuroradiologists independently assigned diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions to the territories mapped by the VTM and FTM. Findings were correlated with clinical features. Results: The most frequent symptom was a hemisensory syndrome (58%), which was not specific for any territory. A co-occurrence of hemisensory syndrome and hemiparesis had positive predictive values (PPV) of 76% and 82% for the involvement of the inferolateral VT and ventral FT, respectively. Thalamic aphasia had a PPV of 63% each for involvement of the anterolateral VT and ventral FT. Neglect was associated with involvement of the inferolateral VT/ventral FT. Interrater reliability for the assignment of DWI lesions to the VTM was fair (κ = 0.36), but good (κ = 0.73) for the FTM. Conclusion: The FTM revealed a greater reproducibility for the topographical assignment of TI than the VTM. Sensorimotor hemiparesis and neglect are predictive for a TI in the inferolateral VT/ventral FT. The hemisensory syndrome alone does not allow any topographical assignment.

Background: The incidence of ischemic stroke was previously expected to rise among countries with an aging population. Lately, several studies from developed countries have reported a decline in certain cohorts. Whether this applies to all sexes, however, is uncertain, with limited data on the temporal development in incidence, treatment, and recovery. Methods and Results: We analyzed a prospective stroke inpatient quality‐assurance registry of the federal state of Hesse, Germany. Recruitment of all patients with a final diagnosis of ischemic stroke at hospital discharge ( International Classification of Diseases , Tenth Revision [ ICD‐10 ]: I63) is mandatory by law. Incidence rates were calculated based on census data of all inhabitants and stratified according to age. Between 2010 and 2019, there were 141 277 patients included, 73 770 (52.2%) male patients and 67 507 (47.8%) female patients. Overall, the incidence of ischemic stroke was 228 per 100 000 in 2010 and 226 per 100 000 in 2019 (−0.8%; odds ratio [OR], 0.99 [95% CI, 0.96–1.02]; P =0.50). For male patients, the incidence increased continuously from 236 per 100 000 to 245 per 100 000 (+3.8%); in female patients it decreased from 220 per 100 000 to 208 per 100 000 (−5.6%). After adjusting for age, the OR for ischemic stroke between male and female patients was 1.40 in 2010 (95% CI, 1.35–1.44; P P <0.001). This development was most pronounced in male patients aged 45 to 59 years with an increase from 151 per 100 000 to 176 per 100 000. In this age group, male patients showed increasing rates of prior strokes and atrial fibrillation, surpassing the prevalence in female patients over time. After multivariable regression analysis, male patients had a lower modified Rankin Scale at discharge compared with female patients, but this difference has decreased since 2015 (common OR in 2010, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.78–0.88]; common OR in 2019, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.84–0.95]), which coincided with rising rates of endovascular treatment. Conclusions: Over the past decade in the federal state of Hesse, the overall incidence of ischemic stroke has declined predominantly in the female population. In contrast, for male patients, the incidence has risen by about 4%, with a steeper increase of 16% in male patients aged 45 to 59 years, which might be related to increasing rates of recurrent strokes and atrial fibrillation in this cohort. This finding provides a cautionary tale for effective secondary prevention. Female patients were generally less likely to achieve a favorable outcome, but since the introduction of endovascular treatment, the outcome gap is decreasing.