Background Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated with mortality and outcome in a wide variety of non-neurological and neurological diseases, namely in myocardial infarction and acute ischemic stroke, and the reason for this is not completely understood. We aimed to investigate RDW as a potential prognostic marker in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods This is a retrospective study of consecutive patients with acute non-traumatic ICH admitted to a single center during a 4-year period. We reviewed individual clinical records to collect demographic and baseline information, including RDW at admission, 3-month functional status, and incidence of death during follow-up. Baseline computed tomography imaging was reviewed to classify the location of ICH, and to measure ICH volume and perihematomal edema volume. Patients were divided according to quartile distribution of RDW (RDW-Q1-4). Results The final study population consisted of 358 patients, median age 71 years (interquartile range [IQR] 60–80), 55% were male, and median Glasgow Coma Scale was 14 (IQR 10–15), with a mean follow-up of 17.6 months. Patients with higher RDW values were older (p = 0.003), more frequently presented with an active malignancy (p = 0.005), atrial fibrillation (p < 0.001), intraventricular hemorrhage (p = 0.048), and were anticoagulated (p < 0.001). Three-month functional independence was similar throughout RDW quartiles. RDW-Q4 was independently associated with increased 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio = 3.36, 95%CI = 1.48–7.62, p = 0.004), but not independently associated with increased mortality after 30 days (adjusted hazards ratio = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.29–1.73, p = 0.448). Conclusions RDW is a robust and independent predictor of 30-day mortality in non-traumatic ICH patients, and further studies to understand this association are warranted.

A worldwide rise in weight and obesity is taking place, associated with an increase in several comorbid conditions, such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment approach for obesity, with resultant improvement in obesity-related comorbidities. However, the relationship between this type of treatment and OSA is not well established. This systematic review aims to assess and characterize the impact that different types of bariatric surgery have on obese OSA patients. 22 articles with stated preoperative apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), apnea index (AI) or respiratory disturbance index (RDI) were analyzed in this review. A significant improvement in AHI/AI/RDI occurred after surgery, in addition to the foreseeable reduction in body mass index (BMI). Moreover, almost every study stated a postoperative reduction of the AHI to < 20/h and/or a >50% postoperative reduction of AHI, with few exceptions. The interventions with a combined malabsorptive and restrictive mechanism, like roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), were more efficacious in resolving and improving OSA than purely restrictive ones, like laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). In conclusion, bariatric surgery has a significant effect on OSA, leading to its resolution or improvement, in the majority of cases, at least in the short/medium term (1-2 years). However, the different results must be interpreted with caution as there are many potential biases resulting from heterogeneous inclusion criteria, duration of follow-up, diagnostic methodology and assessed variables.

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<b><i>Background:</i></b> Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) recurrence risk is known to be higher in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) as compared to other causes of ICH. Risk factors for ICH recurrence are not completely understood, and our goal was to study specific imaging microangiopathy markers. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Retrospective case-control study of patients with non-traumatic ICH admitted to a single center between 2014 and 2017 who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinical characteristics of the index event and occurrence of death and ICH recurrence were collected from clinical records. MRI images were independently reviewed by 2 neuroradiologists. Groups of patients with CAA-related and CAA-unrelated ICH defined were compared. Presence of CAA was defined according to the Boston modified criteria. Survival analysis with Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox-regression analyses was performed to analyze ICH recurrence-free survival. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Among 448 consecutive patients with non-traumatic ICH admitted during the study period, 104 were included in the study, mean age 64 years (±13.5), median follow-up of 27 months (interquartile range, IQR 16–43), corresponding to 272 person-years of total follow-up. CAA-related ICH patients presented higher burden of lobar microbleeds (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), higher burden of enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) in centrum semiovale (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) and more frequently presented cortical superficial siderosis (cSS; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). ICH recurrence in patients with CAA was 12.7 per 100 person-years, and no recurrence was observed in patients without CAA. Variables associated with ICH recurrence in the whole population were age (hazard ratio [HR] per 1-year increment = 1.05, 95% CI 1.00–1.11, <i>p</i> = 0.046), presence of disseminated cSS (HR 3.32, 95% CI 1.09–10.15, <i>p</i> = 0.035) and burden of EPVS in the centrum semiovale (HR per 1-point increment = 1.80, 95% CI 1.04–3.12, <i>p</i> = 0.035). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> This study confirms a higher ICH recurrence risk in patients with CAA-related ICH and suggests that age, disseminated cSS, and burden of EPVS in the centrum semiovale are associated with ICH recurrence.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized pathologically by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Recently, primary age-related tauopathy (PART) has been described as a new anatomopathological disorder where NFTs are the main feature in the absence of neuritic plaques. However, since PART has mainly been studied in post-mortem patient brains, not much is known about the clinical or neuroimaging characteristics of PART. Here, we studied the clinical brain imaging characteristics of PART focusing on neuroanatomical vulnerability by applying a previously validated multiregion visual atrophy scale. We analysed 26 cases with confirmed PART with paired clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisitions. In this selected cohort we found that upon correcting for the effect of age, there is increased atrophy in the medial temporal region with increasing Braak staging (r = 0.3937, p = 0.0466). Upon controlling for Braak staging effect, predominantly two regions, anterior temporal (r = 0.3638, p = 0.0677) and medial temporal (r = 0.3836, p = 0.053), show a trend for increased atrophy with increasing age. Moreover, anterior temporal lobe atrophy was associated with decreased semantic memory/language (r = − 0.5823, p = 0.0056; and r = − 0.6371, p = 0.0019, respectively), as was medial temporal lobe atrophy (r = − 0.4445, p = 0.0435). Overall, these findings support that PART is associated with medial temporal lobe atrophy and predominantly affects semantic memory/language. These findings highlight that other factors associated with aging and beyond NFTs could be involved in PART pathophysiology.