scholarly journals Letter to the Editor Regarding “Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in COVID-19 Patients: A Case Series”

2021 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Ayhan Kanat
Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Veldeman ◽  
Walid Albanna ◽  
Miriam Weiss ◽  
Soojin Park ◽  
Anke Hoellig ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a devastating disease leaving surviving patients often severely disabled. Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) has been identified as one of the main contributors to poor clinical outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage. The objective of this review is to summarize existing clinical evidence assessing the diagnostic value of invasive neuromonitoring (INM) in detecting DCI and provide an update of evidence since the 2014 consensus statement on multimodality monitoring in neurocritical care. Methods: Three invasive monitoring techniques were targeted in the data collection process: brain tissue oxygen tension (p ti O 2 ), cerebral microdialysis, and electrocorticography. Prospective and retrospective studies as well as case series (≥10 patients) were included as long as monitoring was used to detect DCI or guide DCI treatment. Results: Forty-seven studies reporting INM in the context of DCI were included (p ti O 2 : N=21; cerebral microdialysis: N=22; electrocorticography: N=4). Changes in brain oxygen tension are associated with angiographic vasospasm or reduction in regional cerebral blood flow. Metabolic monitoring with trend analysis of the lactate to pyruvate ratio using cerebral microdialysis, identifies patients at risk for DCI. Clusters of cortical spreading depolarizations are associated with clinical neurological worsening and cerebral infarction in selected patients receiving electrocorticography monitoring. Conclusions: Data supports the use of INM for the detection of DCI in selected patients. Generalizability to all subarachnoid hemorrhage patients is limited by design bias of available studies and lack of randomized trials. Continuous data recording with trend analysis and the combination of INM modalities can provide tailored treatment support in patients at high risk for DCI. Future trials should test interventions triggered by INM in relation to cerebral infarctions.


Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Purohit ◽  
Naresh Mullaguri ◽  
Christine Ahrens ◽  
Christopher Newey ◽  
Dani Dhimant ◽  
...  

Introduction: Cerebral vasospasm (CVS) is a complication of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Intraventricular milrinone (IVtM) and intravenous milrinone (IVM) have been studied for treatment of CVS. We aimed to determine the effect of milrinone therapy on clinical and transcranial Doppler (TCD) measures of CVS. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with aSAH treated with IVtM at a single tertiary center between 2016 and 2018. Patients were treated with IVtM if they had symptomatic CVS or TCD suggestive of critical CVS that persisted despite blood pressure augmentation or endovascular therapies. Nimodipine was given as standard of care. A subset of patients were also treated with IVM, which was dosed in a standard fashion based on Montreal Neurological Institute protocol. We collected demographic data, TCD mean flow velocity and pulsatility index, angiographic data, as well as utilization and frequency of IVtM and IVM. Results: Twenty-eight patients in our cohort had modified Fisher grade 4 (57%) or grade 3 (25%) and median Hunt-Hess score of 3 (IQR 2, 4). Twenty-one of 28 patients were treated with IVtM+IVM. Seven (25%) who received IVtM alone had no significant improvement in TCD velocities or reduction in symptomatic CVS (p=0.611). Patients received between 1 and 30 doses of IVtM. There was no significant improvement with time or with number of IVtM doses IVtM. There was also no significant improvement in TCD velocities of CVS patients nor reduction in symptomatic CVS with IVtM+IVM (p=0.69). The number of IVtM doses correlated with an increased discharge mRS (p=0.05). There were no direct complications due to IVtM or IVM. Conclusion: Neither IVtM+IVM nor IVtM alone appear to be effective treatment of CVS in aSAH. Our data represent one of the first case series reporting IVtM and IVtM+IVM utilization for the treatment of CVS.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110534
Author(s):  
Hilamber Subba ◽  
Richard R. Riker ◽  
Susan Dunn ◽  
David J. Gagnon

Objective Vasopressin may be administered to treat vasospasm following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). The objectives of this study were to describe five cases of suspected vasopressin-induced hyponatremia after aSAH and to review the literature. Design Single-center, observational case series of intensive care unit (ICU) patients Settings Ten-bed neurological ICU at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine Patients Convenience sample of patients with aSAH treated with a vasopressin for symptomatic, radiologically confirmed vasospasm Results A total of five patients were included in the case series with a median age of 57 (51, 65) years and all were women. The median Glasgow coma scale score was 15 (11, 15) on admission, and the Hunt and Hess scale score was 3, (3, 4). All patients were treated with endovascular coiling of their aneurysm. Vasopressin was administered to treat symptomatic, radiographically confirmed vasospasm on median post-bleed day (PBD) 10 (10, 15) at a fixed-dose of .03 units/min. Serum sodium at baseline was 140 (140, 144) mEq/L and decreased to 129 (126, 129) mEq/L within 26 (17, 83) hours of vasopressin initiation for a median change of −16 (−10, −16) mEq/L. Serum sodium returned to baseline within 18 (14, 22) hours of stopping the infusion. Conclusions Vasopressin use in vasospasm after aSAH may be associated with clinically significant hyponatremia within 24 hours of starting the infusion. Hyponatremia appears to resolve within 24 hours of stopping the infusion. Additional study in a larger sample size is needed to determine if a causal relationship exist.


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