Cerebral vascular disease

INTRODUCTION: Cerebrovascular dysfunction is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nevertheless, detecting cerebrovascular changes within bulk tissues has limited our ability to characterize proteomic alterations from less abundant cell types. METHODS: We conducted quantitative proteomics on bulk brain tissues and isolated cerebrovasculature from the same individuals, encompassing control (N = 28), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) (N = 18), and AD (N = 21) cases...

PURPOSE: We aimed to determine the surgical indications and postoperative outcomes among pediatric patients with lobar cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed pediatric patients operated on for lobar CCM between March 2010 and August 2021. Indications for surgery included (1) intracranial hemorrhage, (2) symptomatic superficially located lesion, and (3) asymptomatic CCM in non-eloquent area in case of strong parental preferences...

BACKGROUND: Retinal microvascular signs are accessible measures of early alterations in microvascular dysregulation and have been associated with dementia; it is unclear if they are associated with AD (Alzheimer's disease) pathogenesis as a potential mechanistic link. This study aimed to test the association of retinal microvascular abnormalities in mid and late life and late life cerebral amyloid. METHODS: Participants from the ARIC-PET (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Positron Emission Tomography) study with a valid retinal measure (N = 285) were included...

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH)-triggered blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction is a core pathological change occurring in vascular dementia (VD). Despite the recent advances in the exploration of the structural basis of BBB impairment and the routes of entry of harmful compounds after a BBB leakage, the molecular mechanisms inducing BBB impairment remain largely unknown in terms of VD. Here, we employed a CCH-induced VD model and discovered increased vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1) expression on the brain endothelial cells (ECs)...

OBJECTIVE: Our group has previously demonstrated that patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) demonstrate cognitive impairment. One proposed mechanism for cognitive impairment in patients with ACAS is cerebral hypoperfusion due to flow-restriction. We tested whether the combination of a high-grade carotid stenosis and inadequate cross-collateralization in the Circle of Willis (CoW) resulted in worsened cognitive impairment. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with high-grade (≥70% diameter-reducing) ACAS underwent carotid duplex ultrasound, cognitive assessment, and 3D time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)...

BACKGROUND: Preterm preeclampsia, a product of vascular dysfunction, is associated with prolonged hospital admission and proteinuria, significant risk factors for thromboembolism in pregnancy. The risk of thromboembolism in preterm preeclampsia warrants further investigation. OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationship between preterm preeclampsia and thromboembolic risk. We hypothesize that preterm preeclampsia is an independent risk factor for thromboembolism in pregnancy...

INTRODUCTION: Calcified arterial cerebral embolism is a rare occurrence among large and medium vessel occlusions causing ischemic stroke and its diagnosis and treatment is a challenge. The sources of calcified embolism might be a calcific atheroma from the aortic arch and carotid artery, but also heart valve disease has been reported in the literature. Calcified embolism is frequently simultaneous on multiple vascular territories. The prognosis of patients is usually poor, including patients treated by using endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) and this diagnosis could be easily missed in the acute phase...

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of cervical vascular ultrasound in identifying large arterial lesions in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA). Methods: The current study matched 84 TIA patients (disease group) with 66 healthy controls (control group). The baseline patient profiles and biochemical indices of the patients were analyzed. All patients received color Doppler ultrasonography, and outcome measures of its diagnostic efficiency included plaque status, plaque properties, and the degree of carotid stenosis...

OBJECTIVE: To compare maternal vascular indices and hemodynamic parameters at 35-37 weeks' gestation, in pregnancies complicated by small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses and those with fetal growth restriction (FGR). METHODS: This was a prospective observational non-intervention study in women with singleton pregnancies attending for a routine hospital visit at 35+0 to 36+6 weeks' gestation. The visit included recording of maternal demographic characteristics and medical history, vascular indices and hemodynamic parameters obtained by a non-invasive operator independent device, including pulse wave velocity, augmention index, cardiac output, stroke volume, central systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total peripheral resistance and fetal heart rate...

We report a rare case of acute ischemic stroke from concurrent large vessel occlusions (LVOs) and subsequent successful mechanical thrombectomy revascularization in a patient with active coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. A 59-year-old woman presented to the emergency department after one week of intermittent chest pain, dyspnea, and diarrhea found to have COVID-19 pneumonia. On hospital day three, the patient developed acute altered mental status and hemiparesis with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) of 22...

Accurate segmentation of cerebrovascular structures from Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA), Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), and Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) is crucial for clinical diagnosis of cranial vascular diseases. Recent advancements in deep Convolution Neural Network (CNN) have significantly improved the segmentation process. However, training segmentation networks for all modalities requires extensive data labeling for each modality, which is often expensive and time-consuming. To circumvent this limitation, we introduce an approach to train cross-modality cerebrovascular segmentation network based on paired data from source and target domains...

BACKGROUND: Men with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) may have an earlier onset of intracerebral hemorrhage, and a more hemorrhagic disease course compared to women. In this cohort study we investigated sex differences in histopathological markers associated with amyloid-β burden and hemorrhage in cognitively impaired individuals and patients with CAA, using neuropathological data from two autopsy databases. METHODS: First, we investigated presence of parenchymal (Thal score) and vascular amyloid-β (CAA severity score) in cognitively impaired individuals from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) neuropathology database...

Rhino-cerebral mucormycosis (RM) is a rare and opportunistic fungal infection observed in immune-compromised patients and metabolic imbalances such as Diabetes Mellitus. RM rapidly infiltrates blood vessels, leading to vascular thrombosis, subsequent tissue necrosis, and high mortality rates (23.6-60%). Due to its fast advancement, RM is a life-threatening condition requiring accurate clinical decisions by the medical and surgical teams. Based on the report of six cases, we emphasize the need for an early diagnosis and starting antifungal pharmacological therapy at the slightest suspicion of RM...

OBJECTIVE: Moyamoya arteriopathy can develop in patients with brain tumors, particularly when associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) or cranial irradiation. The present study aimed to analyze the clinical outcomes of moyamoya after brain tumor treatment and elucidate the effect of revascularization on brain tumors. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed clinical and radiographic findings in 27 patients with brain tumors who developed moyamoya requiring revascularization surgery between January 1985 and June 2017 at a single institution...

BACKGROUND: Disruptions in vascular formation attributable to chemical insults is a pivotal risk factor or potential etiology of developmental defects and various disease settings. Among the thousands of chemicals threatening human health, the highly concerning groups prevalent in the environment and detected in biological monitoring in the general population ought to be prioritized because of their high exposure risks. However, the impacts of a large number of environmental chemicals on vasculature are far from understood...

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation has recently been shown to be important in nutrient distribution, waste removal, and neurogenesis. Increased CSF volumes are frequently observed in congenital heart disease (CHD) and are associated with neurodevelopmental deficits. This suggests prolonged perturbation to the CSF system and possible interference to its homeostatic function, which may contribute to the neurodevelopmental deficits in CHD. CSF flow has yet to be studied in CHD patients, but the pulsatile flow of CSF throughout the brain is driven mainly by cardiopulmonary circulation...

Arterial hypertension (AH) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases including cerebrovascular complications. Strokes and/or vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) are considered as a clinical sign of brain damage as a target organ in hypertension. To identify and assess the severity of VCI, patients with hypertension should undergo a neuropsychological assessment. Neuroimaging confirm the vascular origin of cognitive impairment. Patient management should include antihypertensive therapy along with neuroprotection...

OBJECTIVE: To establish specific features of executive functions (EF) impairment and attention in vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty people (over the age of 50) diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and AD, as well as 29 healthy volunteers (control group), were examined. The following neuropsychological methods were used to study the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cognitive impairments: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), EXIT-25, Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Clock Drawing Test, «12 Words» test, verbal associations (literal and categorical) method, Trail Making Test A and B, Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Stroop Test, and Benton Visual Retention Test...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pattern and connections of neuropsychological and metabolic indices in patients with cognitive disorders of Alzheimer's and vascular (subcortical-cortical) types of different severity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 177 patients were examined, including 85 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 92 patients with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). All patients underwent complex neuropsychological examination; 18 F-FDG PET was performed in 17 patients with AD and 15 patients with VCI...

Systemic vasculopathy has occasionally been reported in cases of moyamoya disease (MMD). Since the pathological relationship between moyamoya vasculopathy (MMV) and moyamoya-related systemic vasculopathy (MMRSV) remains unclear, it was examined herein by a review of histopathologic studies in consideration of clinicopathological and genetic viewpoints. Although luminal stenosis was a common finding in MMV and MMRSV, histopathologic findings of vascular remodeling markedly differed. MMV showed intimal hyperplasia, marked medial atrophy, and redundant tortuosity of the internal elastic lamina, with outer diameter narrowing called negative remodeling...