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pre-morbid patient conditions and hospitalization complications possibly play a role in status epilepticus short-term outcome, although evidence is incomplete and non-conclusive. The study's aim was to define whether comorbidities and in-hospital complications arising after status epilepticus affect its prognosis.A retrospective single center study was carried out. All selected patients were adults presenting an EEG-proven status epilepticus episode between 2003 and 2014. Medical charts were comprehensively reviewed. In-hospital mortality and length of hospital stay represented study outcomes.One hundred seventy-three subjects met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-one cases (41%) developed infections and 59 (34%) non-infectious complications. Median hospital stay was 16days and overall in-hospital mortality was 44%. Multivariate analysis revealed the association between in-hospital mortality and the following comorbidities: history of diabetes mellitus (Odds ratio=7.89, p=0.002) and evidence of extracranial malignancy (Odds ratio=10.28, p=0.009). Complications were not associated to death after multivariate statistics, which instead displayed systemic inflammatory response syndrome significance (Odds ratio=12.90, p0.001). Infections and non-infectious complications were associated with longer hospital stay (p=0.025 and p=0.01 respectively).status epilepticus management is a multifaceted problem.suggest that some pre-morbid patient conditions and in-hospital adverse events play an unfavorable prognostic role. This preliminary information may help clinicians optimize preventive and therapeutic strategies to guarantee patients the best chances of survival.

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The pathological deposition of the transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa occurs in the majority (∼97%) of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and in around 45% of frontotemporal lobar degeneration cases. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration clinically overlap, presenting a continuum of phenotypes. Both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration lack treatments capable of interfering with the underlying pathological process and early detection of transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa pathology would facilitate the development of disease-modifying drugs. The real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction showed the ability to detect prions in several peripheral tissues of patients with different forms of prion and prion-like diseases. Despite transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa displays prion-like properties, to date the real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction technology has not yet been adapted to this protein. The aim of this study was to adapt the real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction technique for the transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa substrate and to exploit the intrinsic ability of this technology to amplify minute amount of mis-folded proteins for the detection of pathological transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa species in the cerebrospinal fluid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients. We first optimized the technique with synthetic transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa–pre-formed aggregates and with autopsy-verified brain homogenate samples and subsequently analysed CSF samples from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients and controls. Transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction was able to detect as little as 15 pg of transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa aggregates, discriminating between a cohort of patients affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration and age-matched controls with a total sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 85%. Our data give a proof-of-concept that transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa is a suitable substrate for the real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction. Transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction could be an innovative and useful tool for diagnosis and drug development in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The cerebrospinal fluid detection of transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa pathological aggregates may be exploited as a disease biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients., We adapted the RT-QuIC (real-time quaking-induced conversion reaction) technology to the TDP-43 substrate. TDP-43 RT-QuIC detected as little as 15 pg of TDP-43 synthetic aggregates and reached 94% of sensitivity and 85% of specificity in the analysis of CSF from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients and age-matched controls., Graphical Abstract Graphical Abstract

Early post-stroke prognosis is important for guiding treatment and rehabilitation strategies in order to improve recovery and minimize disability. Several demographic, clinical and neuroimaging factors were associated with functional outcome. Early prediction of post-stroke outcome is still challenging since there is large inter-subject variability. Thus, biomarkers that can add prognostic information are still needed. This pilot study aimed to investigate the correlation between early stroke-related EEG changes, measured on bedside with wireless EEG device and short-term functional outcome, measured with 7-day National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), in thrombolysis treated ischemic stroke patients. Delta/alpha power ratio (ρ=0.67, p=0.031) and relative delta power (ρ=0.66, p=0.037) correlated directly with 7-day NIHSS, while relative alpha power (ρ =-0.69, p=0.028) correlated inversely with 7-day NIHSS. In conclusion, in this preliminary study we assessed the correlation between EEG spectral parameters obtained in the pre-treatment hyper-acute phase and short-term functional outcome. These preliminary results highlight the value of hyper-acute EEG as a possible complementary tool in the evaluation of stroke severity and its potential role in the prediction of stroke-related outcome.

Neuroimaging is crucial for stroke diagnosis and to establish the feasibility of reperfusion therapy, but is not practical for the assessment of continuous evolution of brain ischemia. Electroencephalography (EEG) in the early phase of brain ischemia could be a feasible instrument of functional monitoring. In this context, it would be of great research and clinical interest to assess the relation between EEG parameters and the hypoperfused volume measured by Computed Tomography Perfusion (CTP), as possible real-time surrogate parameters for extent of brain ischemia. This preliminary study aimed at investigating the relation between stroke-related EEG changes, measured on bedside with wireless EEG device, and the extent of hypoperfused volume assessed on CTP during the hyper-acute phase. We studied 12 consecutive ischemic stroke patients who underwent CTP assessment and EEG recording with wireless device within 4.5 hours from symptom onset. Total hypoperfused volume correlated significantly with the delta/alpha power ratio (ρ=0.72; p

Hypohydration has been suggested increasing the risk of vascular diseases, and it is associated with poor prognosis and worse functional outcome in stroke. Most studies have used blood parameters to determine patients’ hydration status. The aim of this study was to measure urine osmolality (uOsm) and its influence on stroke severity and independence. A prospective descriptive study was conducted in stroke patients admitted to a stroke unit. All patients underwent neurological evaluation at admission and discharge using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Independence at discharge was evaluated with the Barthel Index (BI) and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). uOsm was measured at admission. Patients were grouped in “poor fluid intake” (PF) and “euhydration” (EU), the latter if uOsm ≤ 500 mOsm/kg. Among 119 included patients, the prevalence of PF was 52%, with no difference observed between groups in demographics or blood samples analyses. PF had higher chances of NIHSS > 8 at admission (OR: 4.7 95% CI: 1.3–17.0; p = 0.02), lower BI at discharge (β: −15.3 95% CI: −26.7 to −3.8; p = 0.01), and worse mRS at discharge (OR: 4.01 95% CI: 1.2–14.0; p = 0.02). These findings are consistent with previous results, suggesting that uOsm may be a factor significantly associated with stroke severity and independence outcome after acute ischemic stroke.

Purpose Crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD) is a common finding in hyper-acute ischemic stroke, related to supratentorial dysfunction of the contralateral hemisphere. Several studies investigated a possible relationship between CCD and clinical outcomes but still no evidence emerged. We proposed a novel quantitative whole cerebellum analysis using CT perfusion (CTP) imaging to investigate the relationship between CCD and stroke severity, hypoperfused volume and outcome measures. Methods 55 patients with supratentorial ischemic stroke who underwent CTP evaluation within 4.5 h since symptom onset were enrolled. CCD was evaluated by CTP image-processing and by calculating the mean transit time (MTT)-map asymmetry index in the whole cerebellum. MTT asymmetry correlation with ischemic volume and clinical outcomes was investigated. Results MTT asymmetry was found in most of the included patients and significantly correlated with NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at baseline and CTP ischemic volume. MTT asymmetry was significantly correlated with hemorrhagic transformation, NIHSS and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score on discharge in treated patients. Conclusions CCD was detectable by CTP in acute supratentorial ischemic stroke by processing the whole cerebellum volume. CCD perfusion asymmetry was significantly correlated with neurological and perfusion deficit on admission as well as with clinical outcomes in treated patients.

Background The COVID-19 pandemics required several changes in stroke management and it may have influenced some clinical or functional characteristics. We aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemics on stroke management during the first month of Italy lockdown. In addition, we described the emergency structured pathway adopted by an Italian University Hub Stroke Unit in the cross-border Italy-Slovenia area. Methods We analyzed admitted patients' clinical features and outcomes between 9th March 2020 and 9th April 2020 (first month of lockdown), and compared them with patients admitted during the same period in 2019. Results Total admissions experienced a reduction of 45% during the lockdown compared to the same period in 2019 (16 vs 29, respectively), as well as a higher prevalence of severe stroke (NIHSS>10) at admission (n = 8, 50% vs n = 8, 28%). A dramatic prevalence of stroke of unknown symptom onset was observed in 2020 (n = 8, 50% vs n = 3, 10%). During lockdown, worse functional and independence outcomes were found, despite the similar proportion of reperfused patients. Similar ‘symptoms alert-to-admission’ and ‘door-to-treatment’ times were observed. During lockdown hospitalization was shorter and fewer patients completed the stroke work-up. Conclusion In conclusion, the adopted strategies for stroke management during the COVID-19 emergency have suggested being effective, while suffering a reduced and delayed reporting of symptoms. Therefore, we recommend raising awareness among the population against possible stroke symptoms onset. Thus, think F.A.S.T. and do not stay-at-home at all costs.

Introduction: Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is the first-line therapy demonstrated to be safe and effective in acute ischemic stroke. People with pre-existing severe dementia or physical disability are usually excluded from rt-PA. The aim of our study was to investigate rt-PA safety and effectiveness in acute stroke with pre-existing disability (mRS ≥ 2). Methods: The study encompassed 35 acute ischemic stroke patients with mRS ≥ 2 treated with rt-PA. In order to assess the differences in clinical outcome in three disability groups (mRS = 2; 3; 4/5), the following parameters were evaluated: intracerebral hemorrhage, mortality, NIHSS, ΔNIHSS and mRS. Results: Baseline-NIHSS and age were not significantly different among groups. Mortality was higher in the pre-morbid mRS 4/5 group (44%) than in the pre-morbid mRS 2 (16.7%) and mRS 3 groups (21.4%). In survived patients, median ΔNIHSS% was higher in the mRS 2 and 3 groups (-63.3% and −92.3%, respectively) than in the mRS 4/5 group (−9.1%). The 247 rt-PA treated subjects with mRS < 2 in the same period showed lower mortality rate (4.7%), lower sICH (5%), lower mRS at discharge (median 1; range 0–6) and similar ΔNIHSS% (−75%). Conclusion: Patients with mRS 2 and 3 may benefit from rt-PA with a moderate risk of sICH and mortality.

Backgrounds: Wake-Up Stroke (WUS) patients are generally excluded from thrombolytic therapy (rTPA) due to the unknown time of stroke onset. This study aimed to investigate the effects of rTPA in WUS patients during every day clinical scenarios, by measuring ischemic lesion volume and functional outcomes compared to non-treated WUS patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical and imaging data of 149 (75 rTPA; 74 non-rTPA) patients with acute ischemic WUS. Ischemic volume was calculated on follow-up CT and functional outcomes were the NIHSS and mRS comparing rTPA and non-rTPA WUS. Patients were selected using ASPECTS > 6 on CT and/or ischemic penumbra > 50% of hypoperfused tissue on CTP. Results: A reduced volume was measured on the follow-up CT for rTPA (1 mL, 0-8) compared to the non-rTPA patients (10 mL, 0-40; p = 0.000). NIHSS at 7 days from admission was significantly lower in the rTPA (1, 0-4) compared to non-rTPA group (3, 1-9; p = 0.015), as was the percentage of improvement (ΔNIHSS) (70% vs 50%; p = 0.002). A higher prevalence of mRS 0-2 was observed in the rTPA compared to the non-rTPA (54% vs 39%; p = 0.060). Multivariate analysis showed that NIHSS at baseline and rTPA treatment are significant predictors of good outcome both in terms of NIHSS at 7 days and ischemic lesion volume on follow-up CT (p < 0.05). Conclusions: rTPA in WUS patients selected with CT and/or CTP resulted in reduced ischemic infarct volume on follow-up CT and better functional outcome without increment of intracranial hemorrhages and in-hospital mortality.

COVID-19 pandemics required a reorganisation of social spaces to prevent the spread of the virus. Due to the common presence of fever in the symptomatic patients, temperature measurement is one of the most common screening protocols. Indeed, regulations in many countries require temperature measurements before entering shops, workplaces, and public buildings. Due to the necessity of providing rapid non-contact and non-invasive protocols to measure body temperature, infra-red thermometry is mostly used. Many countries are now facing the need to organise the return to school and universities in the COVID-19 era, which require solutions to prevent the risk of contagion between students and/or teachers and technical/administrative staff. This paper highlights and discusses some of the strengths and limitations of infra-red cameras, including the site of measurements and the influence of the environment, and recommends to be careful to consider such measurements as a single "safety rule" for a good return to normality.

The accurate identification and prediction of cerebral infarct evolution and clinical outcome are of paramount importance in acute ischemic stroke management. Neuroimaging in acute stroke is mandatory to establish the feasibility of reperfusion therapy, but it is not practical to assess the continuous evolution of brain ischemia. EEG could be an applicable instrument to perform functional monitoring in the hyper-acute phase. EEG activity during ischemic stroke has been widely studied in sub-acute and post-acute phase of ischemic stroke. However, only few studies have focused on the early phase of brain ischemia. The aim of this study conducted at the stroke unit was to investigate stroke-related EEG changes during the earliest phase of ischemic stroke within 4.5 h from symptom onset and to correlate these data with neurological deficit in terms of NIHSS score. We studied 12 patients with ischemic stroke, who underwent EEG recordings within 4.5 h from symptom onset. The EEG signals acquisition was performed bedside without delaying reperfusion treatment, using @64 channels Wi-Fi Be Plus LTM amplifier and 19 channel 10–20 Ag/AgCl electrodes wireless prewired headset. The main finding of this study is a significant positive correlation between stroke-related EEG changes measured by DAR and DTABR parameters and the neurological deficit measured by NIHSS score, during the earliest phase of ischemic stroke. The results of this study highlight the importance of EEG as complementary tool in the assessment of stroke severity and its potential role in acute decision-making and monitoring.

BACKGROUND: Care partners of stroke survivors are often characterized by high burden levels and depression. Passive and active interventions have been proposed to help reduce burden and depression. The aim of this quality improvement report was to evaluate the effects of a single passive intervention on reported burden and depression in carers of stroke survivors. METHODS: A quality improvement report was conducted on carers who participated in a short passive intervention (n = 56) and a control group (n = 44). The Family Strain Questionnaire-Short Form (FSQ-SF) and the Beck Depression Inventory II were administered in both groups at patients' admission and before discharge, with the intervention taking place between the 2 data collection periods. RESULTS: No significant difference between groups was observed in FSQ-SF score and prevalence of depression at admission and in FSQ-SF at discharge. However, compared with admission, FSQ-SF at discharge was significantly reduced only in the intervention group (pre: 14, and interquartile range, 12-15; post: 9, and interquartile range, 9-13; P < .01). Moreover, a smaller proportion of carers classified as "depression" was found at discharge in the intervention group compared with controls (4% vs 28%, respectively; P < .01). CONCLUSION: Results encourage the development and use of short passive intervention to reduce burden and depression in care partners of stroke survivors.

Objectives The combined use of perfusion neuroimaging and brain oscillatory activity may provide a better clinical picture of neurovascular coupling of the injured area in ischemic stroke. The aim is to assess stroke-related topographic electroencephalography (EEG) changes during the earliest phase of ischemic stroke and to compare them with hypoperfusion identified by computer tomography perfusion (CTP). Patients and methods The study included 15 patients with ischemic stroke, who underwent both CTP and EEG recording within 4.5 h. Topographic representation of power for each band was calculated and compared with hypoperfusion areas estimated by CTP maps. Results Predominance of slow delta frequencies was found in all patients. The main finding is the agreement between slow rhythms hemispheric prevalence on EEG maps and cerebral hypoperfusion area identified using CTP. Conclusion The results of this preliminary study show that the combined use of EEG and CTP, as highly available techniques, in acute ischemic stroke may be helpful in clinical practice and provide information about functional and metabolic aspects of brain involvement. The joint use of these methodologies may give a better clinical insight of the functionality of injured area in the hyperacute phase.

Background Neurovascular Coupling is the cerebral mechanism responsible for linking neuronal activity, cerebral metabolism and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF). The direct relation between functional brain activity during active, passive and motor imagery paradigms and changes in CBF has been widely investigated using different techniques. However, CBF changes have not been investigated beat by beat during robot assisted passive movement (PM) and motor imagery (MI) of lower limb, yet. Materials and methods We investigated beat-to-beat hemodynamic changes in 8 healthy subjects using TCD during MI and robot-assisted PM of lower limb. Results The results showed that MI and PM induce a significant CBFv increase and that PM and MI lead to similar hemodynamic changes in healthy subjects. Conclusions The findings may be useful to better understand the variation of CBFv in brain pathology and to develop more specific and efficient rehabilitation therapy protocols in neurological diseases, such as stroke.

Introduction Thrombolysis may affect ischemic stroke-related size, pattern and nature of infarcts, and has the potential to change aphasia presentation and recovery. Data on evolution of post-stroke aphasia following thrombolysis are still scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the course of language recovery through a well-validated language assessment battery after acute ischemic stroke and investigate whether traditional categorical classifications of aphasia can describe the clinical picture in post-thrombolysis phase. Materials and methods Demographic, clinical, and language assessment data of 116 patients presenting sub-acute ischemic stroke aphasia (41 treated with r-tPA; 75 non-treated) were retrospectively analyzed. The participants were assessed by a clinical neuropsychologist with a variety of subtests taken from a well-validated Italian language battery (Neuro-Psychological Aphasia Evaluation). Results The percentage of resolved aphasia was significantly higher in treated patients compared to non-treated patients (p = 0.005) and global aphasia was more common in the non-treated group (non-treated 30.7% vs treated 17.1%). Aphasia subtypes and stroke etiologies showed no significant association, except for small vessel etiology and resolved aphasia (p = 0.041). Reperfusion treatment, baseline NIHSS, and lacunar stroke were the predictors of aphasia recovery. Conclusion The percentage of resolved aphasia was significantly higher in the treated patients compared to the non-treated, with the latter showing a higher percentage of global aphasia. Identifying classic aphasia subtypes after thrombolysis is still possible since reperfused areas do not necessary change the classification or lead to completely different aphasic syndromes. Reperfusion treatment, baseline NIHSS, and lacunar stroke were the main predictors of aphasia recovery.

Although deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus is an effective surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease, it may expose patients to non-motor side effects such as increased impulsivity and changes in decision-making behavior. Even if several studies have shown that stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus increases the incentive salience of food rewards in both humans and animals, temporal discounting for food rewards has never been investigated in patients who underwent STN-DBS. In this study, we measured inter-temporal choice after STN-DBS, using both primary and secondary rewards. In particular, PD patients who underwent STN-DBS (in ON medication/ON stimulation), PD patients without STN-DBS (in ON medication) and healthy matched controls (C) performed three temporal discounting tasks with food (primary reward), money and discount vouchers (secondary rewards). Participants performed also neuropsychological tests assessing memory and executive functions. Our results show that STN-DBS patients and PD without DBS behave as healthy controls. Even PD patients who after DBS experienced weight gain and/or eating alterations did not show an increased temporal discounting for food rewards. Interestingly, patients taking a higher dosage of dopaminergic medications, fewer years from DBS surgery and, unexpectedly, with better episodic memory were also those who discounted rewards more. In conclusion, this study shows that STN-DBS does not affect temporal discounting of primary and secondary rewards. Furthermore, by revealing interesting correlations between clinical measures and temporal discounting, it also shed light on the clinical outcomes that follow STN-DBS in patients with PD.

Proper hydration and nutrition have been found to be contributing factors to a better recovery in patients after stroke. A better knowledge of factors influencing fluid and energy intake may contribute to a better care of the acute stroke patient. Aim of this study was to describe hydration status, fluid intake, and energy intake of stroke patients during acute hospitalization in a stroke unit. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted in stroke patients admitted to a stroke unit. All patients received neurological evaluation and urinary osmolality (uOsm) measure at admission and discharge. During stroke unit stay patients received a day-by-day diary to record data about beverages, food, and therapy. Water and energy content were then reported based on a national nutritional database. Ninety-five patients were included in the analysis. uOsm did not differ between patients with or without dysphagia, with uOsm > 500 mosm/kg in 58.1% at admission and 57.8% at discharge. Inadequate fluid intake was found in 41.2% of the sample with no difference between groups. Insufficient energy intake was found in 95.6% of the sample, with no patients with dysphagia reaching the minimum suggested amount. Our results suggest that a relevant proportion of stroke patients with and without dysphagia may not improve their hydration status during the first days after admission. Diet and therapy were insufficient to achieve recommended fluid intake and energy intake in a large proportion of patients, suggesting a more careful monitoring of hydration and nutrition needs.

Introduction Stroke mimics (SM) account for 1% to 41% of all AIS presentation. Seizures are the most frequent cause of mimic, but isolated speech impairment, among adult-onset epilepsy, is quite rare, while aphasia is more often due to an AIS. Prompt AIS/SM recognition is required to establish the most appropriate therapeutic management. We aimed at identifying some predictive clinical and anamnestic features useful to differentiate SM from AIS, particularly in patients presenting with aphasia. Materials and methods A retrospective study of patients admitted for a suspected stroke, from January 2015 until January 2017 was performed. We identified patients discharged with a final diagnosis of aphasia and patients with seizures presenting with speech impairment. Anamnestic, clinical and diagnostic were reviewed. Univariate analyses determined key clinical features predictive of AIS versus an epileptic SM. Results 72 patients with sudden onset of aphasia were identified. A cerebrovascular etiology was diagnosed in 50 patients while an epileptic SM in 22. The presence of ischemic cardiopathy, atrial fibrillation and mild lateralizing signs were strongly suggestive of stroke. Otherwise, a previous history of epilepsy, alteration of consciousness, concomitant infection and electrolyte imbalance were predictors of a SM. Conclusions Our study underscores the importance of an accurate clinical bed-side assessment as the first step in the diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making process for patients presenting with aphasia. The detection of clinical and anamnestic features associated with an epileptic SM could be useful for the diagnostic process and for time-critical treatments.

Chronic migraine (CM) is often associated with medication overuse headache (MOH). Few small trials have been conducted on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for CM treatment, but results are conflicting. Aim of the study was to investigate the effects of high frequency of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (hf-rTMS) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex combined with strongly suggesting to avoid medications overuse in patients suffering with CM and MOH. A six-month single-centre perspective randomized double-blinded study was conducted at the Headache Centre of Trieste. Patients suffering with CM and MOH were randomly enrolled in two groups to receive active hf-rTMS in DLPFC or sham hf-rTMS. Headache days (HD), headache hours (HH) and symptomatic drug intake (SDI) were recorded for 30 days before the beginning of stimulation (T0) and during the three following months (T3). Disability (MIDAS score) was evaluated at T0 and at the three-month follow-up visit. The primary outcome was the evaluation of reduction of HD. Reduction of SDI, HH and disability were considered as secondary outcomes. Out of 26 patients enrolled, 14 completed the study, 7 underwent hf-rTMS and 7 sham-TMS. There were no significant differences between groups at T0 in demographic data and headache measures. Mean number of HD, HH, SDI, and MIDAS similarly reduced in the two groups. Our study failed in demonstrating that hf-rTMS with detoxification advice could be better than detoxification advice alone in CM treatment. hf-rTMS carries a high potential of inducing placebo effect and this can be usefully leveraged to enhance patients’ coping strategies.

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) patients who are treated with dopamine replacement therapy are at risk of developing impulse control disorders (ICDs) (such as gambling, binge eating, and others). According to recent evidence, compulsive reward seeking in ICDs may arise from an excessive attribution of incentive salience (or ‘wanting’) to rewards. Objectives In this study, we tested this hypothesis in patients with PD who developed binge eating (BE). Methods Patients with BE, patients without BE, and healthy controls performed different experimental tasks assessing food liking and wanting. Participants first rated the degree of liking and wanting for different foods using explicit self-report measures. They then performed an affective priming task that measured participants' affective reactions towards foods (liking), and a grip-force task that assessed their motivation for food rewards (wanting). All participants also completed several questionnaires assessing impulsivity, reward sensitivity, anxiety and depression, and underwent a neuropsychological evaluation. Results Patients with BE displayed an altered liking for sweet foods compared to controls but not to patients without BE. Furthermore, this difference emerged only when implicit measures were used. Importantly, an increased wanting was not associated with binge eating even if wanting, but not liking scores significantly correlated with LED levodopa, confirming the hypothesis of a distinction between the two components of rewards. Lastly, binge eating was associated with depression and lower working memory scores. Conclusions Take together these results suggest that binge eating in PD is associated with cognitive abnormalities, and to lesser extent affective abnormalities, but not with an increased incentive salience.

BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is the most adopted stroke patients' evaluation tool in emergency settings to assess the severity of stroke and to determine the patients' eligibility for specific treatments. Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) is crucial to identify salvageable tissue that can benefit from the reperfusion treatment. The aim of this study is to identify the relation between the NIHSS scores and the hypoperfused volumes evaluated by CTP in patients with hyperacute ischemic stroke. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted on 105 patients with ischemic stroke who underwent NIHSS assessment and CTP in the hyperacute phase. Hypoperfused volume was evaluated by CTP maps processed with semi-automatic algorithm. An analysis was conducted to determine the degree of correlation between the NIHSS scores and the ischemic lesion volumes and to investigate the relation between the anterior and the posterior circulation strokes, as well as between the right and the left hemispheric strokes. RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between ischemic volume and NIHSS score at baseline (r = .82; P

Background Aphasia is one of the most devastating stroke-related consequences for social interaction and daily activities. Aphasia recovery in acute stroke depends on the degree of reperfusion after thrombolysis or thrombectomy. As aphasia assessment tests are often time-consuming for patients with acute stroke, physicians have been developing rapid and simple tests. The aim of our study is to evaluate the improvement of language functions in the earliest stage in patients treated with thrombolysis and in nontreated patients using our rapid screening test. Materials and Methods Our study is a single-center prospective observational study conducted at the Stroke Unit of the University Medical Hospital of Trieste (January-December 2016). Patients treated with thrombolysis and nontreated patients underwent 3 aphasia assessments through our rapid screening test (at baseline, 24 hours, and 72 hours). The screening test assesses spontaneous speech, oral comprehension of words, reading aloud and comprehension of written words, oral comprehension of sentences, naming, repetition of words and a sentence, and writing words. Results The study included 40 patients: 18 patients treated with thrombolysis and 22 nontreated patients. Both groups improved over time. Among all language parameters, spontaneous speech was statistically significant between 24 and 72 hours (P value = .012), and between baseline and 72 hours (P value = .017). Conclusions Our study demonstrates that patients treated with thrombolysis experience greater improvement in language than the nontreated patients. The difference between the 2 groups is increasingly evident over time. Moreover, spontaneous speech is the parameter marked by the greatest improvement.

Objectives The acute-onset of migrainuos aura (MA) can be erroneously diagnosed in Emergency Department (ED) as acute stroke (AS) and it can be classified as “stroke mimic” (SM). Perfusion computer tomography (PCT) may be useful to improve detection of infarcts. The aim of the study was to investigate the role in ED of PCT in improving diagnosis of migrainous aura. Data were compared with the well-defined perfusion patterns in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Patients and Methods A standardized Stroke Protocol was planned. The protocol consisted in centralizing in ED all the patients with acute-onset of neurological symptoms compatible with cerebrovascular disease and in performing a general and neurological examination, hematological tests, brain non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT), CT angiography (CTA) of the supra-aortic and intracranial arteries and cerebral PCT. Patients with diagnosis of definite or probable acute stroke were hospitalized in Stroke Unit (SU). A six-months retrospective analysis of all the patients included in the Stroke Protocol and discharged from ED or from SU with a diagnosis of migraine with aura was performed. Results 172 patients were included in the Stroke Protocol and 6 patients were enrolled. NCCT, CTA and PCT were performed after 60–90 min from symptoms onset and revealed normal perfusion. Intravenous thrombolysis was performed only in one patient. Conclusion Patients with acute-onset of neurological symptoms, who have rapid progressive improvement of symptoms, normal neuroimaging, in particular PCT, and preceding episodes of migraine with aura, may be considered as suffering from MA. In these cases, even if thrombolysis is safe, clinicians may defer a prompt aggressive treatment.