Tag Archives: stroke

Postpartum Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Secondary to Vertebral Artery Dissection. Case Report and Literature Review

Iulia-Adela Drăghici1, Lucian Marginean2, Rares-Cristian Filep2, Zoltan Bajko3,
Laura Barcutean3, Teodora Aldea1, Rodica Balasa3

1 1st Neurology Clinic, Emergency County Hospital Targu Mures, Romania
2 Department of Interventional Radiology, Emergency County Hospital Targu Mures, Romania
3 Department of Neurology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2021-0015

Female patients in the peripartum and postpartum periods have an increased risk of stroke than nonpregnant women. Cerebrovascular complications of pregnancy represent a significant cause of maternal mortality and morbidity and are potentially disabling. Acute basilar artery occlusion secondary to spontaneous vertebral artery dissection in the postpartum period is an infrequent entity and a major diagnostic and treatment challenge. In the present case, a 37-year-old female patient, eight weeks after caesarean delivery, presented with a history of sudden cervical pain, followed by headache and dizziness. Some hours later, she was found unconscious by her family and was transferred to the emergency department, where a neurological status assessment suggested vertebrobasilar stroke. The imagistic workup revealed right vertebral artery dissection and basilar artery occlusion without constituted ischemic lesions. The patient underwent endovascular intervention with dilation of the narrowed vertebral artery and stent retriever basilar artery thrombectomy, with a favourable clinical outcome. This report first presents the details of this case and the relevant literature data on postpartum arterial dissections and the subsequent ischemic complications and available treatment options.

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Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Cancer: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Anca Motataianu1, Smaranda Maier1, Sebastian Andone2, Laura Barcutean1, Georgiana Serban2, Zoltan Bajko1, Adrian Balasa1

1. George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania
2. Emergency County Hospital Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2021-0002

Introduction: An increasing trend of cancer associated stroke has been noticed in the past decade.
Objectives: To evaluate the risk factors and the incidence of neoplasia in stroke patients.
Material and Method: A retrospective, observational study was undertaken on 249 patients with stroke and active cancer (SAC) and 1563 patients with stroke without cancer (SWC). The general cardiovascular risk factors, the site of cancer, and the general clinical data were registered and evaluated. According to the “Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project” (OCSP) classification, all patients were classified into the clinical subtypes of stroke. The aetiology of stroke was considered as large-artery atherosclerosis, small vessel disease, cardio-embolic, cryptogenic or other determined cause.
Results: The severity of neurological deficits at admission were significantly higher in the SAC group (p<0.01). The haemoglobin level was significantly lower, and platelet level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were significantly higher in the SAC group. Glycaemia, cholesterol and triglycerides levels were significantly higher in the SWC group. The personal history of hypertension was more frequent in the SWC group. In the SAC group, 28.9% had a cryptogenic aetiology, compared to 9.1% in SWC group. Cardio-embolic strokes were more frequent in the SAC group (24%) than the SWC group (19.6%). In the SAC group, 15,6% were diagnosed with cancer during the stroke hospitalization, and 78% of the SAC patients were without metastasis.
Conclusions: The most frequent aetiologies of stroke in cancer patients were cryptogenic stroke, followed by large-artery atherosclerosis. SAC patients had more severe neurological deficits and worse clinical outcomes than SWC patients. Stroke in cancer patients appears to be more frequently cryptogenic, probably due to cancer associated thrombosis. The association between stroke and cancer is important, especially in stroke of cryptogenic mechanism, even in the presence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

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When a Stroke is not Just a Stroke: Escherichia coli Meningitis with Ventriculitis and Vasculitis: A Case Report

Barbara Ribeiro1, Peter Bishop1, Sima Jalili2

1 Intensive Care Unit, Colchester General Hospital, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
2 Microbiology Department, Colchester General Hospital, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2020-0002

Introduction: Community-acquired Escherichia coli ventriculitis is considered a rare condition. Central nervous system (CNS) infection due to gram-negative bacilli is usually associated with previous neurosurgical interventions. The recent publication of cases of Escherichia coli meningitis and ventriculitis suggests its prevalence may be underestimated by the literature.
Case presentation: A case of community-acquired Escherichia coli CNS infection on a 58 year old patient presenting with altered consciousness but without neck stiffness, nor significant past medical history is reported. Imaging and lumbar puncture findings suggested a complex case of meningitis with associated ventriculitis and vasculitis. Escherichia coli was later identified in cultures. Subsequent multi-organ support in Intensive Care was required. The patient was treated with a prolonged course of intravenous antimicrobials guided by microbiology, resulting in some neurological recovery. The main challenges encountered in the management of the patient were the lack of clear recommendations on the duration of treatment and the potential development of multi-resistant organisms.
Conclusion: Bacterial central nervous system infections can have an atypical presentation, and an increasing number of cases of community-acquired ventriculitis have been reported. Early consideration should be given to use magnetic resonance imaging to help guide treatment. A long course of antibiotics is often required for these patients; however, the optimal duration for antimicrobial treatment is not well defined.

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Locked-In Syndrome Following Cervical Manipulation by a Chiropractor: A Case Report

Guillaume Giordano Orsini1, Giorgios-Emmanouil Metaxas2, Vincent Legros3

1 Emergency Department, University Hospital of Reims, Reims, France
2 Radiology Department, University Hospital of Reims, Reims, France
3 Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Reims, Reims, France

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2019-0014

Introduction: Vertebrobasilar occlusion poses difficult diagnostic issues and even when properly diagnosed has a poor prognosis. Newer studies highlight a better outcome when thrombectomy was carried out between six and twenty-four hours after an initial diagnosis of stroke. This paper reports a case where a patient suffered a vertebrobasilar stroke secondary to a traumatic bilateral vertebral arteries dissection was treated with late thrombectomy.
Case presentation: A 34-year-old woman was manipulated on the cervical spinal column by a chiropractor. Following three weeks of cervical pain, she presented with severe aphasia and quadriplegia (NIHSS = 28). An MRI scan indicated ischemia of the vertebrobasilar system. Thirty-one hours after the onset of these symptoms, a thrombectomy was performed. After one month, the patient could move her head and the proximal part of her limbs but remained confined to bed (NIHSS = 13).
Conclusion: The current case illustrates the benefit of late mechanical thrombectomy for a posterior cerebral circulation infarct. Although there was a delay in treatment, partial recovery ensued.

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Severe Fatal Systemic Embolism Due to Non-Bacterial Thrombotic Endocarditis as the Initial Manifestation of Gastric Adenocarcinoma: Case Report

Anca Moţăţăianu1,2, Smaranda Maier1,2, Anita Gothard2, Zoltán Bajkó1,2, Rodica Bălaşa1,2

1 Department of Neurology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Târgu Mureş, Romania
2 1st Neurology Clinic, Mureş County Clinical Emergency Hospital, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2018-0008

Introduction: Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE), also known as marantic endocarditis, is a rare, underdiagnosed complication of cancer, in the context of a hypercoagulable state. NBTE represents a serious complication due to the high risk of embolisation from the sterile cardiac vegetations. If these are not properly diagnosed and treated, infarctions in multiple arterial territories may occur.
Case presentation: The case of a 47-year-old male is described. The patient was diagnosed with a gastric adenocarcinoma, in which the first clinical manifestation was NBTE. Subsequently, a hypercoagulability syndrome was associated with multi-organ infarctions, including stroke and eventually resulted in a fatal outcome.
Conclusions: NBTE must be considered in patients with multiple arterial infarcts with no cardiovascular risk factors, in the absence of an infectious syndrome and negative blood cultures. Cancer screening must be performed to detect the cause of the prothrombotic state.

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Stroke Secondary to Traumatic Carotid Artery Injury – A Case Report

Zoltán Bajkó1, 2, Smaranda Maier1, 2, Anca Moțățăianu1, 2, Rodica Bălașa1, 2, Smaranda Vasiu2, Adina Stoian2, 3, Sebastian Andone2

1 Department of Neurology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Târgu Mureș, Romania
2 Mureș County Clinical Emergency Hospital, Târgu Mureș, Romania
3 Department of Pathophysiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Târgu Mureș, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/jccm-2018-0003

Introduction: Lesions of the carotid and vertebral arteries secondary to direct trauma, called blunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVI) are relatively rare and are markedly different from spontaneous dissections. Ischaemic stroke is a significant complication, with high morbidity and mortality rates. The basis of a diagnosis relies on appropriate, high sensitivity imaging screening.
Case report: We present the case of a 31 years old male patient with polytraumatism secondary to a motor vehicle accident, who was admitted to an orthopaedic clinic for multiple lower extremity fractures. His fractures were treated surgically. He developed in the 3rd day after the admission left sided hemiparesis secondary to ischaemic stroke. The diagnosis of traumatic carotid artery injury (TCAI) was based on duplex ultrasound and angio CT scans. The outcome was favourable despite the severe carotid lesions presenting with occlusion secondary to dissection.
Conclusions: In the majority of BCVI cases there is a variable latent period between the time of injury and the development of stroke. The management of cases is challenging because in the majority of cases there are multiple associated injuries. Although antithrombotics are widely used in the treatment, there is no consensus regarding the type of agent, the optimal dose or treatment duration.

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