Index by author

The authors evaluated the results reported in 23 studies that included 516 patients in whom different drugs were used for rescue therapy in thromboembolic complications during endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms. The literature shows that rescue therapy with thrombolytic agents resulted in significantly more morbidity than rescue therapy with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors. Tirofiban/eptifibatide resulted in significantly higher recanalization rates compared with abciximab.

Using CT or DWI, the authors categorized percentages of insular ribbon infarctions as less or more than 50% and correlated these with clinical outcomes. Only insular ribbon involvement greater than 50% and low NIHSS score at admission correlated with poor outcomes. They concluded that DWI–percentage insula ribbon infarct of >50% independently predicted poor clinical outcome and can help identify patients with stroke likely to have poor outcome despite small admission DWI lesion volumes.

Repeatability of outpatient head CT interpretations performed in an academic practice was assessed in 119 randomly selected studies. These were blindly read twice by 8 neuroradiologists. Differences in location and severity of findings occurred in 9.2% of cases and contradictory findings in 15.1%. Thus, discrepancies in double-blind interpretations were more common than reported in peer-review quality assurance programs.

Repeatability of outpatient head CT interpretations performed in an academic practice was assessed in 119 randomly selected studies. These were blindly read twice by 8 neuroradiologists. Differences in location and severity of findings occurred in 9.2% of cases and contradictory findings in 15.1%. Thus, discrepancies in double-blind interpretations were more common than reported in peer-review quality assurance programs.

Because codeine is a popular drug and results in cognitive deficits, the authors assessed 30 chronic users and 30 controls with DTI. Chronic codeine users showed lower fractional anisotropy in 4 brain regions and higher scores on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. It appears that chronic codeine-containing syrup abuse may be associated with disruptions in brain white matter integrity and that these microstructural deficits may be linked to higher impulsivity in chronic users.

Using CT or DWI, the authors categorized percentages of insular ribbon infarctions as less or more than 50% and correlated these with clinical outcomes. Only insular ribbon involvement greater than 50% and low NIHSS score at admission correlated with poor outcomes. They concluded that DWI–percentage insula ribbon infarct of >50% independently predicted poor clinical outcome and can help identify patients with stroke likely to have poor outcome despite small admission DWI lesion volumes.

Because codeine is a popular drug and results in cognitive deficits, the authors assessed 30 chronic users and 30 controls with DTI. Chronic codeine users showed lower fractional anisotropy in 4 brain regions and higher scores on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. It appears that chronic codeine-containing syrup abuse may be associated with disruptions in brain white matter integrity and that these microstructural deficits may be linked to higher impulsivity in chronic users.