Prospective Study of Radial Artery Occlusion Following Transradial Arterial Access during IR Procedures

PurposeTo prospectively determine the rate of radial artery occlusion (RAO) in patients undergoing transradial access for intra-arterial interventions.Materials and MethodsSeventy-seven patients undergoing transradial access from August 2019 to March 2021 for 120 intra-arterial procedures (yttrium-90 mapping [n = 39] and radioembolization [n = 38], uterine artery embolization [n = 19], transarterial chemoembolization [n = 10], active bleed embolization [n = 8], angiomyolipoma embolization [n = 4], and other [n = 2]) were enrolled. The average patient age was 59 years ± 13.1 (range, 30–90 years), and 43 (55.8%) of the 77 patients were men. The patients underwent radial artery (RA) palpation, ultrasound evaluation, the Barbeau test, and the reverse Barbeau test prior to and following the intervention. Verapamil, nitroglycerin, and heparin were administered in a total of 114 (95%) of the 120 procedures prior to starting the procedure. The incidence of RAO and radial artery spasm (RAS) was calculated, and univariate logistic regression was performed to analyze the predictors of RAS.ResultsThe preprocedural RA diameter (3.0 mm ± 0.67) was not significantly different from the postprocedural RA diameter (3.0 mm ± 0.65, P = .904). The RAO rate was determined to be 0.8% (1/120), and this artery recanalized within 1 week. Due to the small number of occlusions, statistical analysis of predictors of RAO was not performed. The rate of RAS was 22.7% (27/119). None of the variables tested—including age, sex, RA diameter, initial versus repeat access, operator experience, and artery puncture technique—showed significant prediction for RAS. Patients were seen for follow-up after 111 (92.5%) of the 120 procedures.ConclusionsTransradial access resulted in a <1% rate of RAO.     

Delusional parasitosis as presenting symptom of occipital lobe cerebrovascular accident

Delusional parasitosis manifests as a fixed, false belief that an individual is infested by living organisms. Primary delusional parasitosis is a psychiatric disorder with the delusion as an isolated manifestation, whereas secondary delusional parasitosis is a delusion occurring secondary to a psychiatric disorder, substance use, or medical illness. A 62-year-old woman with no psychiatric history presented to the Emergency Department with two to three months of “whole body itching” and seeing small insects crawling on her skin and in her hair. Exam of her skin and scalp was notable for no appreciable lesions, rashes, excoriations, or insects. Her neurologic exam was notable for full visual fields, and no localizing deficits. A non-contrast head CT demonstrated a nonspecific heterogeneous low-attenuation lesion within the medial right occipital lobe, and a follow up MRI confirmed a right posterior cerebral artery distribution subacute infarction. She was admitted for two days, and ultimately was discharged on aspirin and atorvastatin for secondary prevention. An emergency physician should remain vigilant in his/her assessment of patients with seemingly psychiatric symptoms, in particular elderly patients with no known psychiatric illnesses. Neuroimaging should be amongst studies considered in the evaluation of elderly patients presenting with new onset psychiatric complaints.     

瓦氏动作在脑血流自动调节功能中的应用

CA是指脑血流在动脉血压和脑灌注压发生改变时保持相对稳定的一个复杂的多因素过 程。脑血流自动调节与多种神经系统疾病如脑血管病、帕金森病、头痛、自主神经功能障碍等疾病的 发生、发展及临床预后相关。对脑血流自动调节功能有很多种评估测量方法，监测瓦氏动作所诱导 的血压变化更具有操作性及标准化，适用于各种人群，其安全、简单、准确的特点使其在脑血流自动 调节中运用十分广泛。本文重点对瓦氏动作在脑血流自动调节功能中的应用做一个综述介绍。     

静息状态的动态脑血流自动调节：检查方法及临床应用

CA是维持脑血流恒定的生理机制。测量CA的方法很多。本文要介绍的是在静息状态下， 利用传递函数计算外围动脉血压和脑血流间的低频相位差，即可测量CA。CA和脑血管疾病的预后有 关，因此它有潜力成为有用的临床诊疗工具。     

Sleep and brain morphological changes in the eighth decade of life

ObjectiveSleep is important for brain health. We analysed associations between usual sleep habits and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of neurodegeneration (brain atrophy), vascular damage (white matter hyperintensities, WMH) and waste clearance (perivascular spaces, PVS) in older community-dwelling adults.MethodWe collected self-reported usual sleep duration, quality and medical histories from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936) age 76 years and performed brain MRI. We calculated sleep efficiency, measured WMH and brain volumes, quantified PVS, and assessed associations between sleep measures and brain markers in multivariate models adjusted for demographic and medical history variables.ResultsIn 457 subjects (53% males, mean age 76 ± 0.65 years), we found: brain and white matter loss with increased weekend daytime sleep (β = −0.114, P = 0.03; β = −0.122, P = 0.007 respectively), white matter loss with less efficient sleep (β = 0.132, P = 0.011) and PVS increased with interrupted sleep (OR 1.84 95% CI, P = 0.025).ConclusionCross-sectional associations of sleep parameters with brain atrophy and more PVS suggest adverse relationships between usual sleep habits and brain health in older people that should be evaluated longitudinally.     

Endovascular deep brain stimulation: Investigating the relationship between vascular structures and deep brain stimulation targets

BackgroundEndovascular delivery of current using ‘stentrodes’ – electrode bearing stents – constitutes a potential alternative to conventional deep brain stimulation (DBS). The precise neuroanatomical relationships between DBS targets and the vascular system, however, are poorly characterized to date.ObjectiveTo establish the relationships between cerebrovascular system and DBS targets and investigate the feasibility of endovascular stimulation as an alternative to DBS.MethodsNeuroanatomical targets as employed during deep brain stimulation (anterior limb of the internal capsule, dentatorubrothalamic tract, fornix, globus pallidus pars interna, medial forebrain bundle, nucleus accumbens, pedunculopontine nucleus, subcallosal cingulate cortex, subthalamic nucleus, and ventral intermediate nucleus) were superimposed onto probabilistic vascular atlases obtained from 42 healthy individuals. Euclidian distances between targets and associated vessels were measured. To determine the electrical currents necessary to encapsulate the predefined neurosurgical targets and identify potentially side-effect inducing substrates, a preliminary volume of tissue activated (VTA) analysis was performed.ResultsSix out of ten DBS targets were deemed suitable for endovascular stimulation: medial forebrain bundle (vascular site: P1 segment of posterior cerebral artery), nucleus accumbens (vascular site: A1 segment of anterior cerebral artery), dentatorubrothalamic tract (vascular site: s2 segment of superior cerebellar artery), fornix (vascular site: internal cerebral vein), pedunculopontine nucleus (vascular site: lateral mesencephalic vein), and subcallosal cingulate cortex (vascular site: A2 segment of anterior cerebral artery). While VTAs effectively encapsulated mfb and NA at current thresholds of 3.5 V and 4.5 V respectively, incremental amplitude increases were required to effectively cover fornix, PPN and SCC target (mean voltage: 8.2 ± 4.8 V, range: 3.0–17.0 V). The side-effect profile associated with endovascular stimulation seems to be comparable to conventional lead implantation. Tailoring of targets towards vascular sites, however, may allow to reduce adverse effects, while maintaining the efficacy of neural entrainment within the target tissue.ConclusionsWhile several challenges remain at present, endovascular stimulation of select DBS targets seems feasible offering novel and exciting opportunities in the neuromodulation armamentarium.     

首都医科大学附属北京天坛医院2017-2019年脑血管病专业与非重点学科专业医学人才发展调查

目的 对首都医科大学附属北京天坛医院脑血管病专业与非重点学科专业人才梯度及发展现状进 行调查，为不同专业的人才管理策略提供依据。 方法 选取北京天坛医院重点学科脑血管病专业和非重点学科专业（内科、外科、妇科、儿科）在 职医师为研究对象，对比医师的人才梯队及科研产出的差异。 结果 脑血管病专业组共103人，非重点学科组共308人。脑血管病专业组平均年龄高于非重点学 科组（43.3±7.9岁 vs 41.3±8.7岁，P =0.036）；两组的专业技术职称（P =0.005）、教学职称（P＜0.001） 和学历（P =0.001）分布差异具有统计学意义，脑血管病专业组的高级专业技术职称、高级教学职称 和博士学历的比例更高。2016-2017年度、2017-2018年度及2018-2019年度脑血管病专业承担的国 家级（6项 vs 1项、7项 vs 0项、8项 vs 4项）和省部级课题（7项 vs 4项、9项 vs 3项、6项 vs 3项）均多于 非重点学科组。 结论 与非重点学科专业相比，天坛医院脑血管病专业人才学历和专业技术职称更高，科研产出 也显著高于非重点学科专业。应借鉴脑血管病专业人才管理策略，加强人才引进，激励科技创新，提 高医院人力资源发展和管理水平，以促进医院各科室医学人才全面发展。