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Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on global health, resulting in a strain on healthcare services worldwide. The faster a patient with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) receives reperfusion treatment, the greater the odds of a good functional outcome. To maintain the time-dependent processes in acute stroke care, strategies to reorganize infrastructure and optimize human and medical resources were needed., Methods: Data from AIS patients who received thrombolytic therapy were prospectively assessed in the emergency department (ED) of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre from 2019 to 2021. Treatment times for each stage were measured, and the reasons for a delay in receiving thrombolytic therapy were evaluated., Results: A total of 256 patients received thrombolytic therapy during this period. Patients who arrived by the emergency medical service (EMS) had a lower median door-to-needle time (DNT). In the multivariable analysis, the independent predictors of DNT >60 min were previous atrial fibrillation (OR 7) and receiving thrombolysis in the ED (OR 9). The majority of patients had more than one reason for treatment delay. The main reasons were as follows: delay in starting the CT scan, delay in the decision-making process after the CT scan, and delay in reducing blood pressure. Several actions were implemented during the study period. The most important factor that contributed to a decrease in DNT was starting the bolus and continuous infusion of tPA on the CT scan table (decreased the median DNT from 74 to 52, DNT ≤ 60 min in 67% of patients treated at radiology service vs. 24% of patients treated in the ED). The DNT decreased from 78 min to 66 min in 2020 and 57 min in 2021 ( p = 0.01)., Conclusion: Acute stroke care continued to be a priority despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of a thrombolytic bolus and the start of continuous infusion on the CT scan table was the main factor that contributed to the reduction of DNT. Continuous monitoring of service times is essential for improving the quality of the stroke center and achieving better functional outcomes for patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Klu, Souza, Carbonera, Secchi, Pille, Rodrigues, Brondani, Almeida, Dal Pizzol, Camelo, Mantovani, Oldoni, Tessari, Nasi and Martins.)

Background: Performing motor evaluations using videoconferencing for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is safe and feasible. However, the feasibility of these evaluations is not adequately studied in resource-limited settings., Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of performing motor evaluations for patients with PD in a resource-limited setting., Methods: The examiners rated motor aspects of parkinsonism of 34 patients with PD from the Brazilian public healthcare system through telemedicine with the patient's own means by using the Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) rating scale. Quality measures of the video meeting were also obtained. The feasibility of rating the motor aspects was the primary outcome whereas the rating of individual motor aspects, video meeting quality and predictors of a complete evaluation served as secondary outcomes., Results: The least assessable parameters were freezing of gait (52.9%), gait (70.6%), leg agility, and rest tremor (both 76.5%). Complete MDS-UPDRS part III was possible in 41.2% of patients and 62 out of 374 motor aspects evaluated (16.6%) were missed. Available physical space for a video evaluation was the worst quality measure. Incomplete evaluations were directly associated with disability ( p  = 0.048, r = 0.34) and inversely with available physical space ( p  = 0.003, r = 0.55)., Conclusion: A significant portion of the MDS-UPDRS part III is unable to be performed during telemedicine-based evaluations in a real-life scenario of a resource-limited setting., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Background: Telemedicine for patients with parkinsonism is feasible, cost-effective and satisfactory. However, the feasibility of this modality of care for this subpopulation is not known in real-life scenarios of developing countries like Brazil., Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of telemedicine for patients with parkinsonism in a developing country., Methods: A cross-sectional study with patients with parkinsonism treated in the Brazilian public healthcare system. We included 130 patients, who were contacted by telephone; those who could be reached underwent a structured interview for data collection. The primary outcomes were the feasibility of teleconsultations and video consultations, but we also performed a logistic regression regarding the feasibility of a video consultation and associated factors., Results: Telemedicine was feasible and accepted by 69 (53.08%) patients regarding teleconsultations and by 50 (38.5%) patients regarding video consultations. Teleconsultations were feasible for 80.2%, and video consultations were feasible for 58.1% of the patients reachable through telephone calls. Having a higher family income was positively correlated with the feasibility for a video consultation while a negative association was observed regarding being married or in a stable union and having a low level of schooling., Conclusions: A significant proportion of patients with parkinsonism in a developing country are unreachable, unwilling, or unable to participate in telemedicine. Among the reachable patients, feasibility is higher but still lower than what is reported in studies in developed countries. Family income, level of schooling, and marital status were associated with the feasibility of video consultations., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interests to declare., (Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Background: Recent studies have found an association between Helicobacter pylori infection and prediabetes. Whether H. pylori per se or host factors are involved in the disturbance of glycated hemoglobin needs further investigation. The aim of this study was to determine the association of glycated hemoglobin levels with endoscopic diagnosis and the inflammatory response in H. pylori infection., Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 88 dyspeptic non-diabetic adults who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The diagnosis of H. pylori infection was performed through urease test and histopathological exam. Cases were initially distributed into two groups: control (without H. pylori infection, n = 22) and HP (patients with H. pylori infection, n = 66). HbA1c was measured to determine prediabetes status according to the American Diabetes Association criteria, and then the groups were subdivided into non-prediabetic ( n = 14), prediabetic ( n = 8), non-prediabetic HP ( n = 26) and prediabetic HP ( n = 40) groups. Gastric mucosa was histologically evaluated to determine H. pylori density and inflammatory activity according to Sydney System. To investigate the balance of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines we measured interleukin 10 (anti-inflammatory) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-a (pro-inflammatory) in the plasma or in the gastric mucosa., Results: Patients with H. pylori infection had higher mean HbA1c levels than those without H. pylori infection. However, increased HbA1c levels were not associated with H. pylori -related factors but with the bacterial density, the intensity of inflammation and the activity of the chronic gastritis. In addition, H. pylori infection per se did not alter IL-10 and TNF-α neither in the plasma nor in the gastric mucosa, but the bacterial density was negatively correlated with systemic and local IL-10 expression. Although no correlation was found between systemic cytokines and HbA1c levels, local anti-inflammatory cytokine was correlated with HbA1c levels., Conclusion: Long-term H. pylori infection is associated with prediabetes. This association is not related to the presence of H. pylori per se but depends on the extent of bacterial colonization and the degree of both local inflammation and activity of the chronic gastritis., (Copyright © 2020 Maluf, Salgado, Cysne, Camelo, Nascimento, Maluf, Silva, Belfort, Silva, Guerra, Salgado Filho and Nascimento.)