Campbell, B. C. V. et al. (2018) Effect of general anaesthesia on functional outcome in patients with anterior circulation ischaemic stroke having endovascular thrombectomy versus standard care: a meta-analysis of individual patient data. Lancet Neurology, 17(1), pp. 47-53. (doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30407-6) This is the author's final accepted version.There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/149670/ variables. An alternative approach using propensity-score stratification was also used. To account for between-trial variance we used mixed-effects modeling with a random effect for trial incorporated in all models. Bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool.Findings: Of 1764 patients in 7 trials, 871 were allocated to endovascular thrombectomy. After exclusion of 74 patients (72 who did not undergo the procedure and 2 with missing data on anaesthetic strategy), 236/797 (30%) of endovascular patients were treated under GA. At baseline, GA patients were younger and had shorter time to randomisation but similar pre-treatment clinical severity compared to non-GA. Endovascular thrombectomy improved functional outcome at 3 months versus standard care in both GA (adjusted common odds ratio (cOR) 1·52, 95%CI 1·09-2·11, p=0·014) and non-GA (adjusted cOR 2·33, 95%CI 1·75-3·10, p<0·001) patients. However, outcomes were significantly better for those treated under non-GA versus GA (covariate-adjusted cOR 1·53, 95%CI 1·14-2·04, p=0·004; propensitystratified cOR 1·44 95%CI 1·08-1·92, p=0·012). The risk of bias and variability among studies was assessed to be low.Interpretation: Worse outcomes after endovascular thrombectomy were associated with GA, after adjustment for baseline prognostic variables. These data support avoidance of GA whenever possible. The procedure did, however, remain effective versus standard care in patients treated under GA, indicating that treatment should not be withheld in those who require anaesthesia for medical reasons. Funding:The HERMES collaboration was funded by an unrestricted grant from Medtronic to the University of Calgary. Research in contextEvidence before this study between abolition of the thrombectomy treatment effect in MR CLEAN and no effect in THRACE. Three single-centre randomised trials of general anaesthesia versus conscious sedation found either no difference in functional outcome between groups or a slight benefit of general anaesthesia. Added value of this studyThese data from contemporary, high quality randomised trials form the largest study to date of the association between general anesthesia and the benefit of endovascular thrombectomy versus standard care. We used two different approaches to adjust for baseline imbalances (multivariable logistic regression and propensity-score stratification). We found that GA for endovascular thrombectomy, as practiced in contemporary clinical care across a wide range of expert centres during the rand...

Objective To identify the rates of neurological events following administration of mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna) or adenovirus vector (Janssen) vaccines in the U.S. Methods We used publicly available data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) collected between January 1, 2021 and June 14, 2021. All free text symptoms that were reported within 42 days of vaccine administration were manually reviewed and grouped into 36 individual neurological diagnostic categories. Post‐vaccination neurological event rates were compared between vaccine types and to age‐matched baseline incidence rates in the U.S. and rates of neurological events following COVID. Results Of 306,907,697 COVID vaccine doses administered during the study timeframe, 314,610 (0.1%) people reported any adverse event and 105,214 (0.03%) reported neurological adverse events in a median of 1 day (IQR0‐3) from inoculation. Guillain‐Barre Syndrome (GBS), and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) occurred in fewer than 1 per 1,000,000 doses. Significantly more neurological adverse events were reported following Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S) vaccination compared to either Pfizer‐BioNtech (BNT162b2) or Moderna (mRNA‐1,273; 0.15% vs 0.03% vs 0.03% of doses, respectively, p < 0.0001). The observed‐to‐expected ratios for GBS, CVT and seizure following Janssen vaccination were ≥1.5‐fold higher than background rates. However, the rate of neurological events after acute SARS‐CoV‐2 infection was up to 617‐fold higher than after COVID vaccination. Interpretation Reports of serious neurological events following COVID vaccination are rare. GBS, CVT and seizure may occur at higher than background rates following Janssen vaccination. Despite this, rates of neurological complications following acute SARS‐CoV‐2 infection are up to 617‐fold higher than after COVID vaccination. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:756–771

Objective To describe the epidemiology of nontraumatic headache in adults presenting to emergency departments (EDs). Background Headache is a common reason for presentation to EDs. Little is known about the epidemiology, investigation, and treatment of nontraumatic headache in patients attending EDs internationally. Methods An international, multicenter, observational, cross‐sectional study was conducted over one calendar month in 2019. Participants were adults (≥18 years) with nontraumatic headache as the main presenting complaint. Exclusion criteria were recent head trauma, missing records, interhospital transfers, re‐presentation with same headache as a recent visit, and headache as an associated symptom. Data collected included demographics, clinical assessment, investigation, treatment, and outcome. Results We enrolled 4536 patients (67 hospitals, 10 countries). “Thunderclap” onset was noted in 14.2% of cases (644/4536). Headache was rated as severe in 27.2% (1235/4536). New neurological examination findings were uncommon (3.2%; 147/4536). Head computed tomography (CT) was performed in 36.6% of patients (1661/4536), of which 9.9% showed clinically important pathology (165/1661). There was substantial variation in CT scan utilization between countries (15.9%–75.0%). More than 30 different diagnoses were made. Presumed nonmigraine benign headache accounted for 45.4% of cases (2058/4536) with another 24.3% classified as migraine (1101/4536). A small subgroup of patients have a serious secondary cause for their headache (7.1%; 323/4536) with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), stroke, neoplasm, non‐SAH intracranial hemorrhage/hematoma, and meningitis accounting for about 1% each. Most patients were treated with simple analgesics (paracetamol, aspirin, or nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory agents). Most patients were discharged home (83.8%; 3792/4526). In‐hospital mortality was 0.3% (11/4526). Conclusion Diagnosis and management of headache in the ED is challenging. A small group of patients have a serious secondary cause for their symptoms. There is wide variation in the use of neuroimaging and treatments. Further work is needed to understand the variation in practice and to better inform international guidelines regarding emergent neuroimaging and treatment.

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URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01994720.