Michelson D, Ciafaloni E, Ashwal S, et al. Evidence in focus: nusinersen use in spinal muscular atrophy: report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2018 Oct 12 [Epub ahead of print].
Aortic Stiffness Predicts Incident Dementia
Arterial stiffness can predict a person’s likelihood of developing dementia, according to a study published October 16 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Researchers analyzed the association between arterial stiffness and dementia among 356 older adults with an average age of 78 who were part of the Cardiovascular Health Study Cognition Study. Eligible participants were dementia-free when the study began in 1998. Investigators tested participants’ aortic stiffness with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. Participants also underwent MRI of their brains to measure signs of subclinical brain disease. The researchers found that participants with high carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity readings were 60% more likely to develop dementia during the following 15 years, compared with people with lower carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity values.
Cui C, Sekikawa A, Kuller LH, et al. Aortic stiffness is associated with increased risk of incident dementia in older adults. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;66(1):297-306.
Early MoCA Score Predicts Long-Term Outcome After Stroke
Early cognitive testing with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) predicts long-term cognitive outcome, functional outcome, and mortality after stroke, according to a study published online ahead of print October 17 in Neurology. In this international study, 274 people with stroke were administered MoCA within a week of stroke onset. Participants were divided into two groups: people with no problems with thinking and memory skills and people with cognitive impairment. People who had cognitive impairment within one week of stroke were seven times more likely to die during the three years of the study than people without cognitive impairment. Furthermore, the survival rate for people with cognitive impairment after three years was 83%, and the rate was 97% for people who did not have early cognitive impairment.
Zietemann V, Georgakis MK, Dondaine T, et al. Early MoCA predicts long-term cognitive and functional outcome and mortality after stroke. Neurology. 2018 Oct 17 [Epub ahead of print].
Antiepileptic Drug Use Related to Increased Stroke Risk
In Alzheimer’s disease, antiepileptic drug (AED) use is related to an increased risk of stroke, according to a study published September 18 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Investigators examined the Medication Use and Alzheimer’s Disease cohort, which included all Finnish people who received a clinically verified diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease from 2005 to 2011. People with previous stroke were excluded. For each incident AED user, the investigators matched one nonuser according to sex, age, and time since Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. Analyses were conducted with Cox proportional hazards models and inverse probability of treatment weighting. Compared with nonuse, AED use was associated with an increased risk of stroke, and the risk of stroke was strongest during the first 90 days of AED use (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.36).
Sarycheva T, Lavikainen P, Taipale H, et al. Antiepileptic drug use and the risk of stroke among community-dwelling people with Alzheimer disease: A matched cohort study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018;7(18):e009742.