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Background and Purpose —We sought to study overall and domain-specific quality of life in stroke survivors 1 year after stroke and to identify variables that could predict quality of life after stroke. Methods —We followed up for 1 year a cohort of 118 patients consecutively admitted to our stroke unit at San Carlos University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. The final series at 1-year follow-up consisted of 90 survivors (41 women and 49 men; mean age, 68 years; range, 32 to 90 years). A cross-sectional, descriptive design was developed. Patients completed a questionnaire that included socioeconomic variables, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), Short Form 36, Frenchay Index, Barthel Index, Rankin Scale, and Scandinavian Stroke Scale. Independent variables were sex, age, functional status, motor impairment, and depression. We developed an ANOVA model for statistical analysis. Results —We interviewed 79 patients with ischemic and 11 with hemorrhagic stroke. Thirty-eight percent of patients scored in the depressed range. Variables related to depression were status as a housewife, female sex, inability to work because of disability, and diminished social activity ( P P Conclusions —Functional status and depression were identified as predictors of quality of life. Patients independent in their activities of daily living suffered from a deterioration of the psychosocial dimension of the SIP.

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article recently published in Stroke by Korpelainen et al,1 who reported an increasing sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction with sexual life in stroke patients and their spouses. In that study, poststroke sexual dysfunction in patients was also closely related to the degree of depression as measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. The authors recognize that a limitation in their study was using only the Rankin scale to score the degree of patients disability. We developed a study to measure the variables (depression, disability, or psychological) that could interfere in the sexual life of stroke survivors and their spouses. During 1997, we followed up for 1 year a cohort of 118 patients consecutively admitted to our Stroke Unit at San Carlos University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. The final series consisted of 90 survivors (41 women and 49 men; mean age 68 years, range 32 to …

Objective: to determine possible risk factors of a stroke after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Design: this is a retrospective evaluation of a consecutive group of 4088 patients undergoing PTCA between 1988 and 1995. We have studied the incidence, clinical characteristics, risk factors, and outcome. Results: seven patients, six males and one female (0.17%) developed a stroke after this procedure. In comparison with the control group, the stroke group did not differ regarding age or gender. The existence of a stroke (six located in the brain, and one in the spinal cord), represented 1.24% of all complications (P < 0.001), and 5% of all deaths (P < 0.01) of PTCA. Three patients developed TIA, two patients developed hemorrhagic strokes (in which they received previous thrombolytic therapy), and the other two patients suffered from an ischemic stroke. The statistically significant risk factors of a stroke after PTCA included: intracoronary thrombolytic therapy (P < 0.01), hypercholesterolemia (P < 0.001) and a prior PTCA (P < 0.05). Conclusions: although these procedural complications are infrequent, they are usually serious and important risk factors which could be identified prior to the procedure. These risk factors would allow identification of patients who are prone to a stroke after PTCA. Intracranial hemorrhage occurred only after thrombolytic therapy, and the factors related to hemorrhagic strokes were probably different from those predisposed to ischemic strokes and TIA. Copyright 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

INTRODUCTION The one and a half vertical syndrome consists of paralysis of upward vertical conjugated gaze and monocular paralysis of downward gaze or vice-versa. It occurs as a consequence of a mesencephalodiencephalic lesion, either unilaterally or bilaterally, due to effects on structures such as the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, posterior commissure and rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal bundle. The arterial supply of the structures involved in the supranuclear control of vertical gaze depends on the paramedian thalamic arteries (or posterior thalamo-subthalamic arteries) and the paramedian peduncular arteries. CLINICAL CASE We present the case of a 58 year old woman with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus who presented with sudden onset of diplopia of vertical gaze. On examination there was paralysis of superior vertical conjugated gaze and monocular paralysis of ocular infraversion (one and a half syndrome) with no other pathological findings. Cerebral angioresonance and Doppler studies of the territory supplied by the posterior cerebral artery were normal. CONCLUSIONS Both unilateral and bilateral mesencephalodiencephalic infarcts usually present clinically as disorders of consciousness and of conduct (the almost universal form of presentation), involvement of the pyramidal tract, the third cranial nerves and a supranuclear disorder of vertical gaze. The unusual feature of the case we present is a bilateral thalamo-subthalamic infarct which presented solely as a one and a half vertical syndrome with no clinically apparent effect on anatomically adjacent structures. We have not found any similar cases in the literature.

This is a copy of an article published in the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses © [2012] [copyright Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.]; Research and Human Retroviruses is available online at: http://online.liebertpub.com. Journal Article; Our objective was to analyze the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in HIV patients at risk and to compare them with the general population. All HIV patients older than 50 years who attended our unit from October 2005-July 2006 and all persons attending for an annual medical checkup at an employees' insurance association during the same period were invited to participate in the study. Of the latter (n = 407), a person of the same sex and age (+/-5 years) was included for each HIV patient. PAD was assessed by the ankle-brachial index (ABI) in all subjects, and all completed the Edinburgh questionnaire. Ninety-nine HIV patients and 99 persons from the general population of the same age and sex were included in the study. The HIV patients had a greater prevalence of dyslipidemia, diabetes, and PAD, which was symptomatic in five of them and in one subject from the general population. Patients with HIV infection older than 50 had a high prevalence of PAD, and as it was asymptomatic in half the cases, an ABI may be performed in this population to actively look for PAD. Control of cardiovascular risk factors and the use of such drugs as platelet antiaggregation agents should therefore be optimized in this population. Yes

Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Multicenter Study; The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of didadosine (ddI), lamivudine (3TC), and efavirenz (EFV). This was a follow-up to the VESD study, a 12-month open-label, observational, multicenter study of adult patients with HIV infection who started antiretroviral treatment with the ddI-3TC-EFV once-daily regimen. Of the 167 patients originally included, 106 patients remained on the same triple therapy at the end of the study (1 year), and they were offered an extra 24 months of follow-up; 96 were enrolled in this study (VESD-2). Seventy patients out of the initial cohort were still on the same regimen at month 36, with 97% of them with plasma viral load