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Introduction. The Registry of Stroke Care Quality (RES-Q) is used in Poland for quality monitoring by numerous hospitals participating in the Angels Initiative. Our aim was to assess the degree of improvement in highly stroke-oriented centres that report cases to the RES-Q each year. Material and methods. This retrospective analysis included Polish stroke units that from January 2017 to December 2020 contributed to the RES-Q at least 25 patients annually. Results. Seventeen out of 180 Polish stroke units reported patients each year (2017, n = 1,691; 2018, n = 2,986; 2019, n = 3,750; 2020, n = 3,975). The percentage of ischaemic stroke patients treated with alteplase remained stable (26%, 29%, 30% and 28%, respectively). The door-to-needle time progressively decreased, from a median 49 minutes to 32 minutes. The percentage of patients treated = 60 minutes and = 45 minutes significantly increased (from 68% to 86% and from 43% to 70%, respectively), with no change observed between 2019 and 2020. Despite a general improvement in dysphagia screening (81%, 91%, 98% and 99%), screening performed within the first 24h from admission became less frequent (78%, 76%, 69% and 65%). In-hospital mortality significantly increased (11%, 11%, 13% and 15%), while the proportion of patients discharged home remained stable. Conclusions. Quality-oriented projects facilitate the improvement of stroke care, even in centres demonstrating good baseline performance. Polish stroke units that consistently reported cases to the RES-Q demonstrated improvement in terms of door-to--needle time and dysphagia screening. However, there is still a need to shorten the time to dysphagia screening, and carefully monitor stroke unit mortality following the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to present a review based on the literature and proceedings from selected telemedicine conferences. The review was developed using the PRISMA framework. The Embase and PubMed (updated until July 13, 2015) literature databases were searched for telemedicine-related terms and Poland. The literature search identified 129 eligible articles in the databases and 85 in conference proceedings until July 2015. Articles measured as a number of contributions per year presented a similar rising, fluctuating and almost parallel pattern. Fifty-nine percent of the reviewed papers were published in impacted journals. Almost half of all publications presented original papers. The published articles concerned mostly cardiology (16%), family medicine (15%) and pathology (11%). Conference proceedings papers concerned orthopedics (29%, significantly more frequent; p < 0.001) and cardiology (14%). Scientific activity of researchers and practitioners in Poland in the field of telemedicine is not high, but it is increasing over time. There is a tendency to present the research rather in high-quality journals instead of conferences before publication. The occurrence of individual medical specialty telemedicine in Poland may reflect country-specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Wilson's disease (WD) is an inherited disorder of copper metabolism with wide spectrum of clinical symptoms, mainly hepatic or neurological. Psychiatric disorders occur less frequently and are not pathognomonic for WD. However, in almost 20% of cases they are in fact the first clinical manifestation of WD. Aim. The aim of this paper is to emphasise the importance of including WD in differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in young adults, as well as caution in initiating psychiatric treatment for patients with already established diagnosis of WD. Methods. Case report of a patient with primarily psychiatric manifestation of WD. Results. The authors present the case of a 26-year-old patient treated for 3 years due to depressive syndrome who was diagnosed as WD in the differential diagnosis shortly after extrapyramidal symptoms developed. During the further WD treatment the manic episode occurred. The patient was treated with atypical neuroleptics and anxiolytics, with good psychiatric effect, but with severe neurological deterioration. However, long term use of valproic acid and olanzapine combined with continuation of anti-copper treatment and rehabilitation resulted in good psychiatric and neurological outcome. Conclusions. WD should be always considered in differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in young patients, especially if they present additional extrapyramidal or hepatic symptoms. It is also extremely important to remain cautious when drugs with high affinity to dopamine D2 receptors need to be initiated in patients already diagnosed with WD, as they may result in severe and often irreversible neurological complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Implantable loop recorders (ILR) are considered increasingly helpful in diagnosing cardio-neurological conditions, especially if arrhythmic events are of high clinical importance but are unlikely to be captured by standard methods of electrocardiogram recording due to the low frequency of events and short duration of a single event. The compelling evidence from randomized trials and observational studies strongly supports ILR utilization in patients after cryptogenic stroke or transient ischemic attack and in patients with recurrent transient loss of consciousness of unknown origin. These two groups of patients are expected to gain the most from initiating ILR-driven clinically effective management strategies. Stroke or transient ischemic attack survivors with detected subclinical atrial fibrillation can be switched from antiplatelets to anticoagulants, whilst patients with recurrent syncope may avoid severe injuries and/or substantial impairment of their quality of life. This joint opinion of the Heart Rhythm Association of the Polish Cardiac Society and experts from the Polish Neurological Society summarizes the up-to-date rationale for using ILR in everyday clinical practice and describes the road map for implementing this technology in Poland. Special emphasis is placed on the most recent guidelines issued by both cardiological and neurological scientific societies.

Introduction: The Registry of Stroke Care Quality (RES-Q) is used in Poland for quality monitoring by numerous hospitals participating in the Angels Initiative. Our aim was to assess the degree of improvement in highly stroke-oriented centres that report cases to the RES-Q each year., Material and Methods: This retrospective analysis included Polish stroke units that from January 2017 to December 2020 contributed to the RES-Q at least 25 patients annually., Results: Seventeen out of 180 Polish stroke units reported patients each year (2017, n = 1,691; 2018, n = 2,986; 2019, n = 3,750; 2020, n = 3,975). The percentage of ischaemic stroke patients treated with alteplase remained stable (26%, 29%, 30% and 28%, respectively). The door-to-needle time progressively decreased, from a median 49 minutes to 32 minutes. The percentage of patients treated ≤ 60 minutes and ≤ 45 minutes significantly increased (from 68% to 86% and from 43% to 70%, respectively), with no change observed between 2019 and 2020. Despite a general improvement in dysphagia screening (81%, 91%, 98% and 99%), screening performed within the first 24h from admission became less frequent (78%, 76%, 69% and 65%). In-hospital mortality significantly increased (11%, 11%, 13% and 15%), while the proportion of patients discharged home remained stable., Conclusions: Quality-oriented projects facilitate the improvement of stroke care, even in centres demonstrating good baseline performance. Polish stroke units that consistently reported cases to the RES-Q demonstrated improvement in terms of door-to- -needle time and dysphagia screening. However, there is still a need to shorten the time to dysphagia screening, and carefully monitor stroke unit mortality following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Our aim was to compare the structure and management of conditions mimicking acute cerebrovascular events (ACE) defined as stroke or transient ischaemic attack between patients referred directly to a neurological emergency department (ED) by non-ambulance physicians, ambulance physicians and paramedics., Methods: This is a retrospective study of 802 consecutive patients referred to a Polish urban neurological ED with a prehospital suspicion of ACE between January and December 2014., Results: After proper neurological assessment, ACE was excluded in 258 (32.2%) patients. The ratios of neurological to non--neurological ACE mimics were similar across all groups (35:93 for non-ambulance physicians, 22:39 for ambulance physicians, and 28:39 for paramedics). The most frequent conditions mimicking ACE were vertigo (14.0%), headache (9.7%), seizures (7.0%), blood hypertension (7.0%), electrolyte and metabolic disturbances (5.4%), infections (4.7%) and syncope (4.3%). There were no major differences between patients with ACE-mimics referred by ambulance physicians and referred by paramedics in terms of demographic, previous medical history, extent of diagnostic workup, final diagnosis or further management (neurological admission in 42.6% and 28.4% of cases). However, the characteristics and management of ACE mimics referred by non-ambulance physicians were slightly different, including a lower need for hospital admission (neurological admission in 21.5% of cases)., Conclusions: There seem to be no major differences in the structure, early diagnostic approach or management of ACE mimics between referrals from ambulance physicians and ambulance paramedics, which provides reassurance to healthcare systems that rely solely on paramedics. Mimics referred by non ambulance physicians appear different in structure and are less resource-consuming.

Introduction: Stroke remains one of the main causes of death and the most common cause of long-term disability in adults. Embolic strokes of undetermined source (ESUS) amount to a significant proportion of all ischaemic strokes. Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) in this group of patients would allow for a major therapeutic decision to switch from antiplatelets to oral anticoagulants and therefore significantly reduce the risk of recurrence., State of the Art: Current technology allows long-term continuous ECG monitoring with different systems, including implantable cardiac monitors (ICM). However, in Poland lack of reimbursement does not allow their use in everyday clinical practice., Clinical Implications: This is a statement by a Working Group conceived by the Polish National Consultants in Cardiology and Neurology addressing the use of ICM in patients after ischaemic embolic strokes of undetermined source. The aim was to develop reasonable and comprehensive guidance on how to select and manage candidates for ICM in order to obtain the maximum benefit for Polish public health., Future Directions: This expert opinion is not intended as a guideline but it provides advice as to how to optimise the potential use of ICM in patients after ESUS in the Polish setting.

Background and Purpose: The European licence for alteplase excludes from thrombolysis large groups of acute stroke patients. The Polish licence was revised in 2010, but until then many patients could receive the treatment only off-label. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of intravenous alteplase in Polish patients not fully adhering to the original European drug licence compared to patients treated strictly on-label., Material and Methods: We analysed all patient data contributed to the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry from Polish centres between October 2003 and July 2009., Results: Off-label thrombolysis was administered in 224/946 (23.7%) patients. The most frequent deviations were: use of intravenous antihypertensives (8.2%), age > 80 years (5.4%), time-to-treatment > 3 hours (4.5%), oral anticoagulation (4.2%), previous stroke with concomitant diabetes (2.1%), and previous stroke ≤ 3 months (1.5%). We found no differences in the ratio of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (sICH) according to SITS, ECASS and NINDS definitions. Adjusted odds for 3-month mortality were similar (OR 0.86, 95% CI: 0.51-2.41), excluding patients with previous stroke ≤ 3 months (OR 3.48, 95% CI: 0.96-12.7). Adjusted odds for death or dependency were slightly increased (OR 1.40, 95% CI: 0.92-2.13), especially in patients aged > 80 years (OR 2.80, 95% CI: 1.11-7.05), and with previous stroke ≤ 3 months (OR 4.07, 95% CI: 0.97-17.1)., Conclusions: Polish stroke patients receiving off-label thrombolysis tended to achieve a less favourable outcome, but they were not at increased risk of sICH or death. Considering the current Polish license for alteplase, it may be reasonable to additionally stratify the risk in patients aged > 80 years or with previous stroke ≤ 3 months.

We describe the case of a 57 year-old woman with NSTE ACS, a history of recurrent and prolonged epistaxis, and low prior cardiovascular risk. Additional findings revealed anemia and an aneurysm in her central nervous system. During her hospital stay, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) was diagnosed. After application of two antiplatelet drugs, the patient was scheduled for coronarography, followed by coronary artery bypass grafting. During her hospital stay, only a minor episode of epistaxis was observed. We conclude that anemization due to HTT may significantly accelerate the progress of ischemic heart disease, resulting in acute coronary syndrome. Moreover, coronarography preceded by routine application of two antiplatelet drugs seems not to increase the risk of hemorrhage in HHT patients complicated with myocardial infarction.

Acute lung injury (ALI), including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), is a critical condition consisting of acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure with bilateral pulmonary infiltrates of non-cardiogenic origin. Occasionally it develops in patients with acute or subacute central nervous system pathologies, such as increased intracranial pressure and brain stem lesions. The exact epidemiology of neurogenic pulmonary oedema is unknown. However, due to non-specific clinical manifestation it often remains undiagnosed. Its pathogenesis probably involves overactivation of the sympathetic autonomic system with pulmonary hypertension and increased vessel permeability. We present a case of successfully managed ARDS in a previously healthy patient with newly diagnosed and symptomatic haemangioblastoma of the medulla oblongata. In this context we also review current knowledge on the aetiopathogenesis, diagnostic criteria and treatment for neurogenic ARDS.

Background The prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism with unfractioned heparins (UFH) was introduced in 1970s and initially applied only in high-risk orthopedic surgery patients. While further studies proved its importance also in those with lower risk, it was the development of LMWH, that enabled wide practical application. The primary objective of this study was to provide a complex evaluation of actual compliance with self-administered Low Molecular Weight Heparin in ambulatory orthopedic patients. Assessment of incidence of LMWH side-effects and thromboembolic episodes despite proper prophylaxis were defined as secondary objectives. Material and methods The research was conducted in Brodnowski Hospital, Warsaw and WSzZ Hospital, Kielce. The group consisted of n=120 (58 females, age 17-82) patients. The selection criteria were: having plaster immobilization definitely removed and being prescribed LMWH as a part of the treatment. Participants were given anonymous questionnaires composed of 25 questions. Satisfactory compliance was defined as application of at least 80% of prescribed injections. Results Compliance with LMWH appeared to be satisfactory in 95.8% cases of which 63,6% were fully and 32,2% partially compliant. The most frequent reasons for dose omission were forgetfulness (48.9%), fear of side-effects (20.0%) and side-effects (13.3%). Side effects were observed in 26.7% of drug applying patients and due to this fact 16.4% temporarily stopped injections. Venous thromboembolism was reported in 6.0%. Conclusions Compliance level in great majority proved to be satisfactory, although the necessity of prophylaxis was far from being fully recognized by the patients. It also seemed unaffected by the significant number of side effects. Thromboembolic episodes were sporadically reported.