Neurology
Expert perspectives on neurological conditions, stroke management, movement disorders, and neuromuscular disease.
Recent Discussions
When would you consider intra-arterial thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke?
The prior answer brings up several valid scenarios where IA thrombolysis may be applicable. I can offer some nuanced perspective based on current practice. Device technology has advanced significantly since the landmark EVT trials of 2015. Today, EVT is increasingly feasible in distal-segment occlus...
Do you switch from Eliquis to Pradaxa in patients who experience a recurrent ischemic stroke while on Eliquis, considering their different mechanisms of action?
I tend not to switch patients from Eliquis/apixaban to Pradaxa/dabigratan. There is no good data to support this and while the mechanistic argument may make sense, especially since dabigatran, a direct thrombin inhibitor, was the only DOAC to reduce ischemic stroke events in a statistically signific...
What treatment do you use for stroke prevention in cervical artery dissection?
Two prior RCTs (CADISS and TREAT-CAD) investigated this topic, each with distinct designs. The CADISS trial found no statistically significant difference in primary outcomes between antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapy for extra-cranial dissection. However, the TREAT-CAD trial failed to demon...
When do you pursue further epilepsy workup in a patient with unexplained falls?
In practice, I think I rarely see patients who have experienced an unexplained fall. Most of the time, I'd be asked to see a patient after their first presentation with a seizure, and we might uncover the history of the unexplained fall in our first visit. If I got a call from an emergency departmen...
What is your approach to secondary stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and intracranial stenosis (>70%)?
The patient clearly needs to be on an anticoagulant for stroke prevention with atrial fibrillation and I would choose apixaban. If an antiplatelet is added to the apixaban, the risk of a major bleeding side effect is significantly increased. It is uncertain if apixaban is effective in reducing the r...
How do you determine when to wean patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension off of acetazolamide?
As a neuro-ophthalmologist, my greatest concern is vision-threatening papilledema in IIH. So if there is no papilledema, that threat should be resolved for the time being, right? Not so fast. Accurate direct ophthalmoscopy has become an "optional" skill set for most neurologists. Subtle papilledema ...
How do you taper steroids to treat tremors due to immune checkpoint inhibitor reactions?
I think this depends on the type of tremor and the certainty that it represents irAE, as steroids can also cause tremors (and movement disorders relative to ICI are also relatively uncommon). In general, though, grading severity and tapering in alignment with established guidelines is reasonable.
Do you typically give GI prophylaxis when providing patients with steroid taper for status migrainosus?
I usually do a 3-6 day taper with prednisone, dexamethasone, or medrol dose pack for status migrainous. Occasionally, I have done a 12-day taper if the status migrainous is prolonged. I have not used GI prophylaxis.
What other conditions should you consider in someone with presumed Tolosa Hunt but without significant improvement on steroid therapy?
Sufficient workup should ideally be obtained before initiating steroids in order to exclude disorders that may have a similar presentation with quite a different approach to management. These investigations include but are not limited to the following: brain MRI with contrast + thin slices through t...
Would you recommend switching to DAPT for patients on anticoagulation who develop symptoms of a TIA secondary to ICAD?
It is important to remember that there is more to stroke secondary prevention than antithrombotics. Our use of DAPT in ICAD comes from the SAMMPRIS trial, in which patients in the control group did better than expected compared to historical controls with ICAD in the WASID trial. Recall however, tha...