Objectives: Stroke risk immediately after TIA defined by time-based criteria is high, and prognostic scores (ABCD2 and ABCD3-I) have been developed to assist management. The American Stroke Association has proposed changing the criteria for the distinction between TIA and stroke from time-based to tissue-based. Research using these definitions is lacking. In a multicenter observational cohort study, we have investigated prognosis and performance of the ABCD2 score in TIA, subcategorized as tissue-positive or tissue-negative on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) or CT imaging according to the newly proposed criteria.Methods: Twelve centers provided data on ABCD2 scores, DWI or CT brain imaging, and follow-up in cohorts of patients with TIA diagnosed by time-based criteria. Stroke rates at 7 and 90 days were studied in relation to tissue-positive or tissue-negative subcategorization, according to the presence or absence of brain infarction. The predictive power of the ABCD2 score was determined using area under receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) analyses.Results: A total of 4,574 patients were included. Among DWI patients (n ϭ 3,206), recurrent stroke rates at 7 days were 7.1% (95% confidence interval 5.5-9.1) after tissue-positive and 0.4% (0.2-0.7) after tissue-negative events (p diff Ͻ 0.0001). Corresponding rates in CT-imaged patients were 12.8% (9.3-17.4) and 3.0% (2.0-4.

Background and Purpose-The ABCD system was developed to predict early stroke risk after transient ischemic attack.Incorporation of brain imaging findings has been suggested, but reports have used inconsistent methods and been underpowered. We therefore performed an international, multicenter collaborative study of the prognostic performance of the ABCD 2 score and brain infarction on imaging to determine the optimal weighting of infarction in the score (ABCD 2 I). Methods-Twelve centers provided unpublished data on ABCD 2 scores, presence of brain infarction on either diffusion-weighted imaging or CT, and follow-up in cohorts of patients with transient ischemic attack diagnosed by World Health Organization criteria. Optimal weighting of infarction in the ABCD 2 I score was determined using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analyses and random effects meta-analysis. Results-Among 4574 patients with TIA, acute infarction was present in 884 (27.6%) of 3206 imaged with diffusion-weighted imaging and new or old infarction was present in 327 (23.9%) of 1368 imaged with CT. ABCD

To determine how various inheritance patterns and responses to splenectomy relate to erythrocyte spectrin deficiencies in hereditary spherocytosis, we measured the spectrin content of erythrocytes by radioimmunoassay in 33 patients with this disease. Patients with the dominant form of hereditary spherocytosis generally had mild anemia, with spectrin at 63 to 81 percent of normal levels. Patients with the nondominant form of the disease had anemia ranging from severe to mild, with corresponding spectrin levels of 30 to 74 percent; their siblings were affected similarly. Distantly related homozygotes had different clinical severities with correspondingly different spectrin levels. The parents and offspring of patients with the nondominant form were clinically normal but consistently had subtle erythrocyte abnormalities. Spectrin levels in all patients were inversely related to osmotic fragility (P less than 0.0001), and they were also correlated with the clinical response to splenectomy: patients with spectrin levels above 70 percent achieved normal blood counts, those with levels of 40 to 70 percent had compensated hemolysis, and those with levels below 40 percent improved but remained anemic (P less than 0.0001). We conclude that the inheritance pattern and response to splenectomy in hereditary spherocytosis reflect erythrocyte spectrin deficiencies as determined by radioimmunoassay.

Overall, the prevalence of LVO acute ischemic stroke in our EMS population screened for stroke was low. This is an important consideration for any EMS stroke severity-based triage protocol and should be considered in predicting the rates of overtriage to endovascular stroke centers.

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Objectives. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two prehospital stroke screens in correctly classifying patients suspected of having a stroke. Secondarily, differences in the sensitivity and specificity of the two screening tools were assessed. Methods. We performed a retrospective assessment of the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) and the Medic Prehospital Assessment for Code Stroke (Med PACS) between March 1, 2011, and September 30, 2011, in a single emergency medical services (EMS) agency with seven local hospitals all classified as stroke-capable. We obtained data for this analysis from the EMS electronic patient care reports (ePCRs) and the Get With The Guidelines − Stroke (GWTG-S) registries maintained by the two local health care systems by matching on patient identifiers. The Med PACS was developed specifically for the EMS agency under study by a local team of neurologists, emergency physicians, and paramedics. All of the physical assessment elements of the CPSS were included within the Med PACS. Two additional physical assessment items, gaze and leg motor function, were included in the Med PACS. We classified patients as CPSS-positive or -negative and Med PACS-positive or -negative if any one of the physical assessment findings was present. We determined the presence of a hospital discharge diagnosis of stroke from GWTG-S. We calculated sensitivity and specificity with resultant 95% confidence intervals. Results. We enrolled 416 patients in this study, of whom 186 (44.7%) were diagnosed with a stroke and the specificity of the Med PACS was significantly higher compared with the CPSS, with a difference in specificity of 0.086 (95% CI 0.042-0.131), p < 0.001. Conclusion. The two stroke scales under study demonstrated low sensitivity and specificity, with each scale performing marginally better in one of the two metrics assessed.

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