OBJECTIVES
We aimed to identify predictors of postoperative permanent neurological deficits (PNDs) and evaluate the early management of cerebral perfusion in patients undergoing surgical repair of acute type A aortic dissection with cerebral malperfusion.
METHODS
Between October 2009 and September 2018, a total of 197 patients with acute type A aortic dissection underwent aortic replacement. Of these, 42 (21.3%) patients had an imaging cerebral malperfusion (ICM). ICM was assessed preoperatively, which also revealed whether dissected supra-aortic branch vessels were occluded or narrowed by a thrombosed false lumen. After September 2017, early reperfusion and extra-anatomic revascularization were performed in cases with ICM.
RESULTS
Hospital mortality rates for cases with ICM were 4.8% (2/42). Before September 2017, PND were observed in 6 patients (54.5%) with preoperative neurological symptoms (n = 11), and 7 patients (33.3%) without neurological symptoms (n = 21) in patients with ICM. Occlusion or severe stenosis of supra-aortic branch vessels (odds ratio, 7.66; P < 0.001), regardless of preoperative clinical neurological symptoms, was a risk factor for PND. After September 2017, 7 of 10 patients with ICM underwent early reperfusion and extra-anatomic revascularization. PND did not occur in any of these 7 patients.
CONCLUSIONS
Occlusion or severe stenosis of supra-aortic branch vessels is a predictor of PND risk in patients undergoing surgery for acute type A aortic dissection. Early reperfusion and extra-anatomic revascularization may reduce the risk of neurological complications in patients with ICM, with or without neurological symptoms.
We describe a 24-year-old woman with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis that developed 3 weeks after normal delivery. She was treated with methylprednisolone, intravenous immunoglobulin, and plasmapheresis, in addition to teratoma excision. However, her recovery was slow, and dysmnesia and mental juvenility persisted even two years after onset. To date, five patients with postpartum anti-NMDAR encephalitis have been reported. All of those patients showed psychotic symptoms and were suspected of having postpartum psychosis in the early period of the encephalitis. Changes in hormonal factors, modification of immune tolerance, or retrograde infection of the ovary may be contributing factors for postpartum anti-NMDAR encephalitis.
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