BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Deciphering whether a transient neurological event (TNE) is of ischemic or nonischemic etiology can be challenging. Ischemia of cerebral tissue elicits an immune response in stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). This response, as detected by RNA expressed in immune cells, could potentially distinguish ischemic from nonischemic TNE. METHODS Analysis of 208 TIAs, is...

BACKGROUND Besides the relevant role of brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) as biomarker of cardioembolic strokes, new experimental evidences suggest that this peptide may mediate neuroprotective effects. In this study, we have evaluated for the first time the clinical association between BNP (by means of proBNP) and good outcome in ischemic stroke patients, and analyzed the effect of blood BN...

OBJECTIVE Sneddon syndrome (SS) is characterized by the association of a livedo reticularis with stroke. Clinicoradiological features of its neurological manifestations, its prognosis, and the frequency of associated cardiac valvulopathy remain poorly known, particularly in the absence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APL). The objectives were to assess the clinicoradiological pattern of SS with...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Patients with transient ischemic attack require carotid imaging to diagnose carotid stenosis. The differing sensitivity/specificity and availability of carotid imaging methods have created uncertainty over which noninvasive method is best and whether intra-arterial angiography is still required. We evaluated the influence of carotid imaging methods on secondary stroke pre...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Acute myocardial infarction and sudden death display a circadian rhythm, with a higher risk between 6 AM and noon. Some reports suggest that stroke does not follow such a circadian variation and that hemorrhagic stroke occurs more often during the evening. METHODS A meta-analysis of 31 publications reporting the circadian timing of 11,816 strokes was performed, subdivid...

Background: Almost 25% of all acute ischemic strokes occur during sleep with the patients or relatives become aware of the neurological deficits as they wake up. The present study was conducted with an aim to find out the prevalence of wakeup stroke along with clinical profile and outcome of wake up stroke as compared to non-wake up stroke. Methods: All patients of age group 18 years or more pr...