JNS.jpgThe February issue of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences Vol 445 is now available online.

 

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Issue highlights

Review Article | Open Access

Cerebral amyloid-β deposition in patients with heart disease or carotid occlusive disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Starmans et al.

Published online: January 12, 2023

Cardiovascular disease is an important contributor to cognitive impairment. This likely involves prototypical vascular disease mechanisms like ischemia, but cardiovascular disease might also impact the brain by accelerating cerebral amyloid-β accumulation.

We aimed to determine whether there is an association between heart disease or carotid occlusive disease (COD) and cerebral amyloid-β burden.

We conducted a systematic review of studies investigating cerebral amyloid-β burden, measured with positron emission tomography, in adults with and without heart disease or COD. Where possible, we obtained standardized mean differences (SMD) of amyloid-β standardized uptake volume ratios (SUVr) for meta-analysis.

Based on current studies, although limited and heterogeneous, there is insufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that heart disease or COD are associated with increased cerebral amyloid-β burden.


Review Article

Lumbar spinal ganglion cyst: A systematic review with case illustration

Rana et al.

Published online: December 28, 2022

Ganglion cysts are benign soft tissue lesions found in joints, most commonly wrists. The incidence for juxtafacet cysts, the condition under which spinal ganglion cysts are categorized, is between 0.06% and 5.8%.

Spinal ganglion cysts often arise in the most mobile segment of the lumbar spine, L4-L5. Patients commonly present with pain, radiculopathy, and weakness. Conservative management is used, but surgical resection is the most common treatment modality.

We aim to review the literature and present a rare case of an L2-L3 situated spinal ganglion cyst, treated with maximal safe resection.


Research Article

The combination of heart rate variability and ABCD2 score portends adverse outcomes after minor stroke or transient ischemic attack

Tian et al.

Published online: December 11, 2022

The residual recurrent risk of stroke, which cannot be entirely explained by the traditional ABCD2 score, still exists. Heart rate variability (HRV), a method for reflecting the function of automatic nervous system (ANS), was a novel predictor of secondary stroke events.

We aimed to investigate the relationships of combined HRV and ABCD2 score with adverse outcomes after acute minor stroke (MS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA), and further investigate the independent associations between HRV and adverse outcomes after MS/TIA stratified by ABCD2 score.

The combination of HRV and ABCD2 score might efficiently stratify the risk of 1-year recurrent stroke after MS/TIA. Moreover, lower SDNN was independently related to recurrent stroke in patients with MS/TIA, especially for those with low-to-moderate traditional vascular risk factors.


Review Article

Comparative efficacy and safety of tenecteplase and alteplase in acute ischemic stroke: A pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Rehman et al.

Published online: December 28, 2022

Studies on tenecteplase have been yielding mixed results for several important outcomes at different doses, thus hampering objective guideline recommendations in acute ischemic stroke management. This meta-analysis stratifies doses in order to refine our interpretation of outcomes and quantify the benefits and harms of tenecteplase at different doses.