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Background: Little is known about the association between the cortical microinfarcts (CMIs) and intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) in Chinese patients with ischemic stroke. This study was designed to analyze the association and evaluate the role of CMIs in clinical outcomes.Methods: We evaluated 1421 consecutive patients who had experienced an acute cerebral ischemia within 7 days after symptom onset and evaluated the presence of CMIs and ICAS based on patients' 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography scans. Baseline characteristics, patient risk factors, and clinical outcomes were analyzed to investigate the different outcomes between the CMIs (n = 209) group and non-CMIs (n = 1212) group.Results: CMIs were present in 14.7% persons. The following parameters were associated with risk of CMIs: advanced age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score on admission, lower level of systemic blood pressure, lower triglycerides level, ICAS, and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, ICAS remained an independent risk factor for the development of CMIs (adjusted odds ratio, 1.493; 95% confidence interval, 1.022-2.182; P = .038). At the time point of 1 year after stroke, the rates of poor outcome (modified Rankin Scale, 3-6) in CMIs group (33.5%) were statistically significantly different from the non-CMIs group (22.6%; P = .001). In addition, patients in CMIs group had a significantly higher stroke recurrence rate than patients in the non-CMIs group (6.7% versus 4%; P = .085).Conclusions: The development of CMIs is strongly associated with ICAS. CMIs are independent predictors of poor prognosis in patients with ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose Micro RNAs have recently been shown to regulate the downstream bioprocesses of intracerebral hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mi RNAs can be used as biomarkers to predict secondary hematoma enlargement ( HE) in patients with ICH. Methods Consecutively, 79 ICH patients admitted within 6 h of symptom onset and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Whole-genome mi RNA expression profiles were generated in 32 patients ( HE/non- HE: 14/18). Representative differentially expressed mi RNAs were measured in all cases ( HE/non- HE: 30/49) and normal controls (n = 30) by real-time PCR. Results Thirty mi RNAs showed differential expressions in the plasma samples from patients with HE as compared with the non- HE controls. Compared to the hierarchical cluster analysis with all probes on microarray, all patients were separated into two main branches with only four exceptions by 30 differentially expressed mi RNAs, improving the overall accuracy from 47.62 to 77.78% in the HE and 72.73 to 100% in the non- HE group. Further support vector machine ( SVM) test can discriminate the two groups with 100% accuracy with 10 differentially expressed mi RNAs. Conclusions We demonstrated that multiple mi RNAs are differentially expressed in the plasma of ICH patients with or without HE and may serve as circulating biomarkers for predicting HE after ICH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: The relationship of high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels and infarction numbers with the prognosis of stroke is uncertain. This study evaluated the association of different hs-CRP levels and infarction numbers with the prognosis of acute minor ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA)., Methods: A subset of 807 patients with both hs-CRP measurement and baseline MRI was included from the Clopidogrel in High-risk Patients with Acute Non-disabling Cerebrovascular Events trial. The primary efficacy outcome was the occurrence of an ischaemic stroke at the 1-year follow-up. Infarction numbers were classified as multiple acute infarctions (MAIs), single acute infarction and no acute infarction (NAI). The association between different hs-CRP levels with different infarction numbers and the risk of any outcome was analysed using multivariable Cox regression models., Results: Among the 807 patients, 84 (10.4%) patients had a recurrent ischaemic stroke within 1 year. After adjustment for conventional confounding factors, patients with both elevated hs-CRP levels and MAIs were associated with approximately 4.7-fold of risk of ischaemic stroke within 1 year (16.7% vs 3.5%, HR 4.68, 95% CI 1.54 to 14.23, p=0.007), compared with those with non-elevated hs-CRP levels and NAI. Similar results were observed for the composite events., Conclusions: Combined elevated hs-CRP levels and MAIs may increase 1-year stroke risk stratification efficiency in patients with minor ischaemic stroke or TIA compared with using those markers alone, which indicated that the combination of inflammatory and imaging markers might improve the effectiveness of risk stratification concerning minor ischaemic stroke or TIA.ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT00979589)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and declare that we have no competing interest.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to discuss the relationship between blood pressure and prognosis of patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis., Methods: Data on 2426 patients with symptomatic intracranial large artery stenosis and occlusion who participated in the Chinese Intracranial Atherosclerosis (CICAS) study were analyzed. According to the JNC 7 criteria, blood pressure of all patients was classified into one of the four subgroups: normal, prehypertension, hypertension stage I, and hypertension stage II. Poor outcomes were defined as death and functional dependency (mRS 3-5) at discharge or at 1 year., Results: For patients with intracranial stenosis of 70% to 99%, the rate of poor outcome at discharge was 19.3%, 23.5%, 26.8%, and 39.8% (P = 0.001) for each blood pressure subgroup. For patients with intracranial large artery occlusion, the rates were 17.6%, 22.1%, 29.5%, and 49.8%, respectively (P < 0.0001). The rate of poor outcome at 12-month follow-up was 12.6%, 15.3%, 28.5%, and 27.9% (P = 0.0038) in patients with stenosis of 70% to 99% for each blood pressure subgroup and 11.6%, 21.5%, 23.9%, 35.1% (P < 0.0001) in patients with occlusion., Conclusions: For patients with severe intracranial arterial stenosis or occlusion, higher hypertension stages are associated with an increased risk of poor outcome at discharge and 12-month follow-up., (© 2015 The Authors. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke and warfarin related anticoagulation has been recommended as an effective treatment for stroke prevention. We aimed to determine whether pre-stroke oral anticoagulation therapy would reduce initial stroke severity in AF patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. We identified consecutive patients who developed first-ever ischemic stroke and were eligible for anticoagulation therapy from the China National Stroke Registry. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to assess the association between warfarin usage and initial stroke severity, measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). Of 9519 patients, 1140 (11.98%) had AF, including 440 (38.6%) without known AF before presentation, 561 (49.2%) with known AF but not taking warfarin, and 139 (12.2%) with known AF who were taking warfarin. Compared to patients with known AF but not on warfarin, the odds ratio (OR) of having a major stroke (NIHSS ⩾ 4) was lower in patients with known AF who were on warfarin (OR=0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57-0.84). The OR of developing a severe coma (GCS 3-8) was also reduced in the warfarin group (OR=0.71; 95% CI 0.56-0.91). In conclusion, pre-stroke warfarin therapy lowered the severity of the first-ever ischemic stroke in patients with known AF. Considering its efficacy in stroke prevention and the significant under-usage of warfarin in China, the primary prevention of stroke in AF patients should be reinforced., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Evidence suggests that apoptosis contributes significantly to cell death after cerebral ischemia. Our recent studies that utilized human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCBSCs) demonstrated the potential of hUCBSCs to inhibit neuronal apoptosis in a rat model of CNS injury. Therefore, we hypothesize that intravenous administration of hUCBSCs after focal cerebral ischemia would reduce brain damage by inhibiting apoptosis and downregulating the upregulated apoptotic pathway molecules. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were obtained and randomly assigned to various groups. After the animals reached a desired weight, they were subjected to a 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) procedure followed by 7 days of reperfusion. The hUCBSCs were obtained, cultured, and intravenously injected (0.25 × 10(6) cells or 1 × 10(6) cells) via the tail vein to separate groups of animals 24 h post-MCAO procedure. We performed various techniques including PCR microarray, hematoxylin and eosin, and TUNEL staining in addition to immunoblot and immunofluorescence analysis in order to investigate the effect of our treatment on regulation of apoptosis after focal cerebral ischemia. Most of the apoptotic pathway molecules which were upregulated after focal cerebral ischemia were downregulated after hUCBSCs treatment. Further, the staining techniques revealed a prominent reduction in brain damage and the extent of apoptosis at even the lowest dose of hUCBSCs tested in the present study. In conclusion, our treatment with hUCBSCs after cerebral ischemia in the rodent reduces brain damage by inhibiting apoptosis and downregulating the apoptotic pathway molecules.

Background and Purpose: It remains uncertain whether lower dose intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) for stroke is as effective and safe as the standard dose., Methods: We analyzed data from the Thrombolysis Implementation and Monitor of Acute Ischemic Stroke in China (TIMS-China). Patients who were treated within 4.5 hours after symptom onset were included. These patients were divided into 5 groups according to tPA doses given: <0.5, 0.5 to 0.7, 0.7 to 0.85, 0.85 to 0.95, and ≥0.95 mg/kg. Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, mortality, and 90-day outcome assessed by modified Rankin scale were analyzed., Results: A total of 919 patients were enrolled. Among them, 9 had <0.5 mg/kg, 75 had 0.5 to 0.7 mg/kg, 131 had 0.7 to 0.85 mg/kg, 678 had 0.85 to 0.95 mg/kg, and 26 had ≥0.95 mg/kg. Because of sample sizes, only 0.5 to 0.7, 0.7 to 0.85, and 0.85 to 0.95 mg/kg groups were compared. Median tPA doses were 0.64, 0.79, and 0.90 mg, respectively. After adjustment for the baseline variables, there were no significant differences in mortality(5.41% versus 8.66% versus 7.36%; P=0.695) and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (0% versus 3.82% versus 1.46%; P=0.106). The 0.5 to 0.7 mg/kg group had less excellent recovery outcome (modified Rankin scale, 0-1) than 0.85 to 0.95 mg/kg group (41.89% versus 53.83%; odds ratio=0.58; P=0.031) at 90 days. The 0.70 to 0.85 mg/kg group had less functional independence outcome (modified Rankin scale, 0-2) than 0.85 to 0.95 mg/kg group (54.33% versus 64.51%; odds ratio=0.66; P=0.036) at 90 days., Conclusions: Our study suggests that standard-dose intravenous tPA for stroke had more favorable outcome without increasing the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage than low-dose tPA. For Asian people, 0.9 mg/kg should be the optimal dose of tPA to treat acute ischemic stroke., (© 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Background: Warfarin reduces the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) but is often underused in clinical practice. We aimed to examine the current state of warfarin use in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients with first-ever ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in China and to analysis factors causing such underuse., Methods: By accessing the China National Stroke Registry, data on consecutive patients with known NVAF who developed first-ever IS or TIA were studied. Proportion of warfarin use was estimated in those patients with known NVAF who should be eligible for anticoagulation therapy. Factors associated with warfarin underuse were identified by multivariate logistic regression., Results: Of 11,080 patients with first-ever IS or TIA, 996 (9.7%) had NVAF and no contraindications to anticoagulation therapy and 592 of them had history of AF. Among these patients, only 96 (16.2%) were on warfarin and 496 (83.8%) were not. In those patients on warfarin, only 1 of his international normalized ratios on admission was in the therapeutic range of 2.0-3.0. Based on the CHADS2 scores, about 20.2% low-risk AF patients took warfarin; however, only 15.2% moderate and 16.4% high-risk patients were on warfarin. Older patients and patients with history of coronary heart disease (CHD) were less likely to be given warfarin, whereas patients with history of prestroke antiplatelet use were more likely to take warfarin., Conclusions: We found that warfarin was significantly underused in patients with known NVAF in China. Age and CHD and prestroke antiplatelet therapy were related factors., (Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) represents a serious complication in acute stroke patients with pulmonary embolus (PE) as a potential outcome. Prediction of DVT may help with formulating a proper prevention strategy. To assess of the risk of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in acute stroke patients, we developed and validated a clinical score in a cohort study., Methods: Incidence of Deep Venous Thrombosis after Acute Stroke in China (INVENT-China) is a multicenter prospective cohort study. The potential predictive variables for DVT at baseline were collected, and the presence of DVT was evaluated using ultrasonography on the 14 ± 3 days. Data were randomly assigned to either a training data set or a test data set. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to develop risk scores to predict DVT in the training data set and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve to validate the score in the test data set., Results: From 2006-2007, 862 hospital-based acute stroke patients were enrolled in China. The overall incidence of DVT after acute stroke within two weeks was 12.4% (95%CI 10.3-14.7%). A seven-point score derived in the training data set (age [≥65 years = 1], sex [female gender = 1]), obesity [BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) = 1], active cancer [yes = 2], stroke subtype [cerebral hemorraghe = 1], muscle weakness [≥2 on Lower limb NIHSS score = 1] was highly predictive of 14-day risk of DVT(c statistic = 0.70, 95% CI, 0.64-0.76, P < 0.001), in the overall study population(c statistic = 0.65, 95% CI 0.59-0.70, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: This clinical score may help identify acute stroke patients with high risk of DVT. In addition, it also serves as a platform to develop further models of DVT prediction in stroke patients based on clinical factors., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Collateral circulation is becoming more significant in the individual management strategy of ischemic stroke, there are more data updated recently., Aim: To make the further acknowledgment of the evaluation and how to improving collateral flow, for better treatment selection., Method: A panel of experts on stroke providing related statement based on review the results from most up-to-date clinical research., Results: DSA is the gold standard in evaluating all levels of collaterals. CTA can be used for evaluating leptomeningeal collaterals, MRA for CoW, TCD or TCCS can be used as screening tool for primary evaluation. The treatment modalities include direct interventions, such as Extracranial-Intracranial bypass, and indirect interventions, as External counterpulsation and pressor therapy. The consideration of methodology to augment and improve can be considered on an individual basis., Discussion: In this consensus, we interpret the definition, neuroimaging evaluation, intervention and potential strategy on collaterals in the future., Conclusion: Assessment of collateral circulation is crucial for selecting therapeutic options, predicting infarction volume and making prognosis after ischemic stroke. Data is still needed to provide therapeutic evidence for many new developed technologies. Until more evidence is available, the clinical significance of applying the new technologies is unclear and perhaps limited., (© 2014 The Authors. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The last update of the consensus statement on intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IV rt-PA) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) by the Chinese Stroke Therapy Expert Panel was published in 2006. Great progress has been made since then., Aim: To provide another update on the new knowledge of IV rt-PA for AIS since 7 years ago., Method: In summer of 2012, the Chinese Stroke Therapy Expert Panel was reconvened. New publications on the use of IV rt-PA for AIS were reviewed. In addition, all newly published consensus and guidelines from other countries were reviewed. The 2006 version of Chinese Consensus was then updated., Results: There is now clinical evidence to support the use of IV rt-PA between 3 and 4.5 h after the onset with several exclusion criteria. More studies are needed to provide the evidence for IV rt-PA use beyond 4.5 h. There is benefit giving IV rt-PA within 3 h to patients who are older than 80 and in patients with ongoing atrial fibrillation. Patients with INR<1.7 while on warfarin, minor strokes, rapid improving strokes and severe strokes should be treated and can all be benefited from IV rt-PA., Discussion: Since IV rt-PA was initially recommended in 1996, there is now more evidence support its use, efficacy and safety. The treatment time window is also being expanded. More public education on stroke recognition are needed so many stroke patients may benefit from the treatment., Conclusion: The 2013 version of Chinese IV rt-PA consensus contains the most up-to-date information on the use of IV rt-PA for AIS. It will be a useful tool and guideline to provide appropriate thrombolytic therapy to stroke patients who meet the criteria., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Purpose: The authors present an overview of the current evidence and management recommendations for evaluation and treatment of adults with acute ischemic stroke. The intended audiences are prehospital care providers, physicians, allied health professionals, and hospital administrators responsible for the care of acute ischemic stroke patients within the first 48 hours from stroke onset. These guidelines supersede the prior 2007 guidelines and 2009 updates., Methods: Members of the writing committee were appointed by the American Stroke Association Stroke Council's Scientific Statement Oversight Committee, representing various areas of medical expertise. Strict adherence to the American Heart Association conflict of interest policy was maintained throughout the consensus process. Panel members were assigned topics relevant to their areas of expertise, reviewed the stroke literature with emphasis on publications since the prior guidelines, and drafted recommendations in accordance with the American Heart Association Stroke Council's Level of Evidence grading algorithm., Results: The goal of these guidelines is to limit the morbidity and mortality associated with stroke. The guidelines support the overarching concept of stroke systems of care and detail aspects of stroke care from patient recognition; emergency medical services activation, transport, and triage; through the initial hours in the emergency department and stroke unit. The guideline discusses early stroke evaluation and general medical care, as well as ischemic stroke, specific interventions such as reperfusion strategies, and general physiological optimization for cerebral resuscitation., Conclusions: Because many of the recommendations are based on limited data, additional research on treatment of acute ischemic stroke remains urgently needed.

This study presents a tree-based logistic regression approach to assessing work zone casualty risk, which is defined as the probability of a vehicle occupant being killed or injured in a work zone crash. First, a decision tree approach is employed to determine the tree structure and interacting factors. Based on the Michigan M-94\I-94\I-94BL\I-94BR highway work zone crash data, an optimal tree comprising four leaf nodes is first determined and the interacting factors are found to be airbag, occupant identity (i.e., driver, passenger), and gender. The data are then split into four groups according to the tree structure. Finally, the logistic regression analysis is separately conducted for each group. The results show that the proposed approach outperforms the pure decision tree model because the former has the capability of examining the marginal effects of risk factors. Compared with the pure logistic regression method, the proposed approach avoids the variable interaction effects so that it significantly improves the prediction accuracy., (© 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.)

Background and Purpose: MicroRNAs have recently been shown to regulate the downstream bioprocesses of intracerebral hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to investigate whether miRNAs can be used as biomarkers to predict secondary hematoma enlargement (HE) in patients with ICH., Methods: Consecutively, 79 ICH patients admitted within 6 h of symptom onset and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Whole-genome miRNA expression profiles were generated in 32 patients (HE/non-HE: 14/18). Representative differentially expressed miRNAs were measured in all cases (HE/non-HE: 30/49) and normal controls (n = 30) by real-time PCR., Results: Thirty miRNAs showed differential expressions in the plasma samples from patients with HE as compared with the non-HE controls. Compared to the hierarchical cluster analysis with all probes on microarray, all patients were separated into two main branches with only four exceptions by 30 differentially expressed miRNAs, improving the overall accuracy from 47.62 to 77.78% in the HE and 72.73 to 100% in the non-HE group. Further support vector machine (SVM) test can discriminate the two groups with 100% accuracy with 10 differentially expressed miRNAs., Conclusions: We demonstrated that multiple miRNAs are differentially expressed in the plasma of ICH patients with or without HE and may serve as circulating biomarkers for predicting HE after ICH., (© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Background and Purpose: Several retrospective studies suggested that contrast extravasation on CT angiography predicts hematoma expansion, poor outcome, and mortality in primary intracerebral hemorrhage. We aimed to determine the predictive value of contrast extravasation on multidetector CT angiography for clinical outcome in a prospective study., Methods: In 160 consecutive patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage admitted within 6 hours of symptom onset, noncontrast CT and multidetector CT angiography were performed on admission. A follow-up noncontrast CT was done at 24 hours. Multidetector CT angiography images were analyzed to identify the presence of contrast extravasation. Clinical outcome was assessed by modified Rankin Scale on discharge and at 90 days., Results: A total of 139 patients with primary intracerebral hemorrhage were included in the final analysis. Contrast extravasation occurred in 30 (21.6%) patients. The presence of contrast extravasation was associated with increased hematoma expansion (P<0.0001), in-hospital mortality (P=0.008), prolonged hospital stay (P=0.006), poor outcome on discharge (P=0.025), increased 3-month mortality (P=0.009), and poor clinical outcome (P<0.0001). In multivariate analysis, contrast extravasation was a promising independent predictor (OR, 10.5; 95% CI, 3.2-34.7; P<0.0001) for 90-day poor clinical outcome followed by the presence of intraventricular hemorrhage (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.5-7.7; P=0.003) and initial hematoma volume (OR, 1.0; 95% CI, 1.0-1.1; P=0.013)., Conclusions: The presence of contrast extravasation on multidetector CT angiography in patients with hyperacute-stage intracerebral hemorrhage is an independent and strong factor associated with poor outcome. Any patient with intracerebral hemorrhage with such sign on multidetector CT angiography should be monitored intensely and treated accordingly.

Opinion Statement: Malignant middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction occurs in about 10% of all patients with supratentorial ischemic strokes. The infarction involves the entire MCA territory. Due to the consequences of severe brain edema, brain herniation, elevated intracranial pressure (ICP), and midline shift, these events carry a mortality rate of up to 80%. No clinical trials have been conducted to study the efficacy of the osmotic agents such as mannitol or hypertonic saline. Furthermore, aggressive use of such treatments may be detrimental. Surgical decompression has previously been proposed as a way to relieve the vicious cycle of malignant cerebral edema and reduced cerebral perfusion. Its use in relieving ICP is also controversial. Recently, a pooled analysis of three independent European trials has shown that decompressive hemicraniectomy is clearly beneficial in reducing mortality from large hemispheric infarctions. Although controversies still exist on its indications, surgical decompression can effectively reduce ICP, reduce mortality, and improve neurologic outcomes in selected patients with a malignant MCA stroke syndrome.

Background and Purpose: Little is known about intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) use in China. By accessing the Chinese National Stroke Registry (CNSR), the rate of intravenous rtPA use was reviewed. We specifically examined the issues of prehospital and in-emergency department delay and compared them with the published data from developed countries., Methods: Funded by Chinese government, CNSR is the only nationwide stroke registry that includes 132 urban hospitals. All patients eligible for intravenous rtPA were included for analysis. We then compared the onset-to-needle time and door-to-needle time in the emergency department in China with those in developed countries., Results: From September 2007 to August 2008, 14,702 patients with ischemic stroke were entered into CNSR. Among 11,675 patients with known time of stroke onset, 2514 (21.5%) presented to the emergency department within 3 hours, 1469 (12.6%) were eligible for thrombolytic treatment, and 284 (2.4%) were finally treated, 181 (1.6%) of them with intravenous rtPA. The median onset-to-needle time was 180 (interquartile range, 150 to 228) minutes; the median door-to-needle time was 116 (interquartile range, 70 to 150) minutes; the median imaging-to-needle time was 90 (interquartile range, 60 to 129) minutes. Patients who were younger, presented to the emergency department quicker, with higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores, having higher income, and better education had a better chance of receiving intravenous rtPA., Conclusions: Approximately 1 in 5 patients with stroke presenting within 3 hours received thrombolytic therapy. The onset-to-needle time, door-to-needle time, and especially imaging-to-needle time were significantly longer than those in developed countries. Reducing prehospital and in-emergency department response time would help increase intravenous rtPA use in China.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most lethal type of stroke. Level I, class A evidence of effective treatment is lacking. Many issues surrounding the optimal management of ICH, such as blood pressure control, prevention of hematoma growth, containing brain edema, and preserving cerebral perfusion, need more rigorous clinical research. However, when selected appropriately, the mortality of certain patients with ICH may improve when treated early with minimally invasive neurosurgery or perhaps intravenous hemostatics. In addition, patients with ICHs may have better outcome when medical care is optimized according to the published ICH treatment guidelines. Stem cell therapy has shown promise for better functional recovery.

The management of unruptured cerebral aneurysm is controversial. Because the natural history of unruptured cerebral aneurysm is not well defined, the best management strategy is unclear. The current consensus on the management of unruptured cerebral aneurysm includes observation, microsurgical clipping, and endovascular treatment. The methodologies used to follow up a known unruptured aneurysm are controversial and may be dependent on the preferences of the treating physician. Most aneurysms are managed by the neurosurgeons and interventional neuroradiologists, but neurologists often are the first to discover the unruptured aneurysms when screening the patients for other neurologic disorders. Therefore, the knowledge on when to screen patients for and how to best manage an unruptured aneurysm will have a direct impact on their daily practices. Unruptured aneurysms often cause other neurologic symptoms including ischemic events, seizures, and headache. These symptoms may prompt more interventional treatment. Without a thoughtfully designed, true population-based study or randomized trial, the current best management will be based on the available literature and the temporal profile of each patient.