Isolated hypersomnia due to bilateral thalamic infarcts

Navigating the clinical landscape of artery of Percheron infarction: A systematic review

Introduction

Infarction of the artery of Percheron (AOP) is a rare vascular condition where a single arterial branch supplies blood to the thalamic and midbrain regions, leading to neurological deficits. The challenge lies in its often-delayed diagnosis due to its rarity and diverse clinical presentations, necessitating heightened awareness among clinicians for expedited diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic interventions.

Materials and methods

All relevant studies involving patients diagnosed with infarction of AOP were retrieved from PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus. Only human studies that were published in full English-language reports were included. Included in the search were the terms "Artery of Percheron," "infarction," "stroke," and "demarcation". Age, gender, presenting symptoms, treatment, recovery time, and outcome of patients with AOP infarction were all recorded.

Results

A systematic review was conducted on a total of 530 articles, out of which 130 articles met the specified requirements. The average age is 59, with men comprising 57.7% of the population. The symptoms reported were visual disturbance in 43.9% of cases and changed mental state in 77.2% of cases. Treatment options include conservative management (85.4%), thrombolysis (11.3%), and other approaches. The optimal age range for recovery is between 41 and 50 years old.

Conclusion

Our study on acute AOP infarction highlights male predominance, common comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes, and prevalent symptoms including visual disturbance and altered mental state. Early recognition is crucial, with thrombolytic therapy within the critical time window showing promising outcomes. These findings offer insights for enhanced clinical management of AOP infarction.

Artery of Percheron Stroke as an Unusual Cause of Hypersomnia: A Case Series and a Short Literature Review

The thalamus and the mesencephalon have a complex blood supply. The artery of Percheron (AOP) is a rare anatomical variant. Occlusion of this artery may lead to bithalamic stroke with or without midbrain involvement. Given its broad spectrum of clinical features, AOP stroke is often misdiagnosed. Usually, it manifests with the triad of vertical gaze palsy, memory impairment, and coma. In this article, we report three cases of bilateral thalamic strokes whose clinical presentations were dominated by a sudden onset of hypersomnia. We also reviewed last 5 years' publications related to the AOP strokes in males presenting sleepiness or equivalent terms as a delayed complication. The AOP stroke may present a diagnostic challenge for clinicians which should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hypersomnia.

Bilateral thalamic and mesencephalic infarctions with hypopituitarism as long-term complications postradiotherapy: A case report

BACKGROUND

Radiation is widely used as the first-line treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and improves survival. Nevertheless, radiation also places the patients at risk of radiation-induced adverse effects, such as transient ischemic attack, ischemic stroke, hypopituitarism, and cranial nerve and temporal lobe dysfunction.

CASE REPORT

A 54-year-old woman who had undergone radiation treatment for NPC 14 years earlier and had no cerebrovascular risk factors, visited our department 4 days after sudden onset of consciousness disturbance. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed bilateral thalamic and left mesencephalic infarctions with empty sella. Meanwhile, MR angiography showed narrowing in the bilateral posterior cerebral artery. Furthermore, laboratory tests showed low total triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free T3, free T4, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone, and serum natrium and normal thyroid-stimulating hormone, which indicated radiation-related hypopituitarism. Serologically, she had low hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, ferritin, and serum iron levels and elevated transferrin, manifesting microcytic anemia. The treatment, including aspirin, atorvastatin, levothyroxine, prednisone, saline infusion, and chalybeate, promoted the patient's recovery.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this is the first report of bilateral thalamic and mesencephalic infarction together with hypopituitarism following radiotherapy for NPC.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Acute Ischemic Stroke: Association With Restless Legs Syndrome, Diabetes Mellitus, Obesity, and Sleep-Disordered Breathing

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Sleep disorders are frequent in stroke patients. The prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), and restless legs syndrome (RLS) among stroke survivors is up to 91%, 72%, and 15%, respectively. Although the relationship between EDS and SDB is well described, there are insufficient data regarding the association of EDS with RLS. The aim of this study was to explore the association between EDS, SDB, and RLS in acute ischemic stroke.

METHODS

We enrolled 152 patients with acute ischemic stroke. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used to assess EDS. SDB was assessed using standard overnight polysomnography. All patients filled in a questionnaire focused on RLS. Clinical characteristics and medication were recorded on admission.

RESULTS

EDS was present in 16 (10.5%), SDB in 90 (59.2%) and RLS in 23 patients (15.1%). EDS was significantly more frequent in patients with RLS in comparison with the patients without RLS (26.1% versus 7.8%, P = .008). ESS was significantly higher in the population with RLS compared to the population without RLS (7 [0-14] versus 3 [0-12], P = .032). We failed to find any significant difference in the frequency of EDS and values of ESS in the population with SDB compared to the population without SDB. Presence of RLS (beta = 0.209; P = .009), diabetes mellitus (beta = 0.193; P = .023), and body mass index (beta = 0.171; P = .042) were the only independent variables significantly associated with ESS in multiple linear regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest a significant association of ESS with RLS, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Bilateral internuclear and internal ophthalmoplegia due to artery of Percheron infarction

The artery of Percheron (AOP) infarction always manifests as paramedian bilateral thalamic infarcts and might present as paramedian midbrain infarcts. Despite the limited MRA evaluation, due to small size of the artery, careful evaluation of the patient's history, the clinical presentation with imaging findings can facilitate the proper diagnosis.

Hypersomnia due to injury of the ventral ascending reticular activating system following cerebellar herniation: A case report

RATIONALE

We report on a patient with hypersomnia who showed injury of the lower ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) following cerebellar herniation due to a cerebellar infarct, detected on diffusion tensor tractography (DTT).

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 53-year-old male patient was diagnosed as a left cerebellar infarct, and underwent decompressive suboccipital craniectomy due to brain edema at 2 days after the onset of a cerebellar infarct. Three weeks after onset when the patient started rehabilitation, he showed hypersomnia without impairment of consciousness; he fell asleep most of daytime without external stimulation and showed an abnormal score on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale: 15 (full score: 24, cut off for hypersomnia: 10).

DIAGNOSES AND OUTCOMES

On 3-week DTT, narrowing of the upper portion of the lower ventral ARAS between the pontine reticular formation and the hypothalamus was observed on both sides. In addition, partial tearing was observed in the middle portion of the right lower ventral ARAS.

LESSONS

In conclusion, we found injury of the lower ventral ARAS in a patient with hypersomnia following cerebellar herniation due to a cerebellar infarct.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Stroke Survivors: An Integrative Review

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a prevalent symptom among stroke survivors. This symptom is an independent risk factor for stroke and may reduce stroke survivors' quality of life, cognitive functioning, and daytime functional performance. The lack of a universally accepted definition of EDS makes it difficult to measure EDS and synthesize research. The purpose of this integrative review is to describe poststroke EDS, ascertain conceptual and operational definitions of EDS, identify factors that contribute to EDS in stroke survivors, and explore outcomes associated with EDS in stroke survivors. We searched the following databases: PubMed and MEDLINE (OvidSP 1946-April; Week 2, 2015), Embase (OvidSP 1974-March; Week 1, 2015), and PsycINFO (OvidSP 1967-April; Week 2, 2015). Our search yielded 340 articles, 27 of which met inclusion criteria. The literature reveals EDS to be a multidimensional construct that is operationalized with both subjective and objective measures. Choosing measures that can quantify both the objective and subjective components is useful for gaining a comprehensive understanding of EDS. The antecedents of EDS are stroke, sleep-disordered breathing, reversed Robin Hood syndrome, and depression. The outcomes associated with EDS in stroke patients are serious and negative. Via synthesis of this research, we propose a possible framework for poststroke EDS, which may be of use in clinical practice and in research to identify valid quantifying methods for EDS as well as to prevent harmful outcomes in stroke survivors.

Manual characterization of sleep spindle index in patients with narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia

This is a retrospective review of PSG data from 8 narcolepsy patients and 8 idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) patients, evaluating electrophysiologic differences between these two central hypersomnias. Spindles were identified according to the AASM Manual for the Scoring of Sleep and Associated Events; and counted per epoch in the first 50 epochs of N2 sleep and the last 50 epochs of N2 sleep in each patient's PSG. Spindle count data (mean ± standard deviation) per 30 second-epoch (spindle index) in the 8 narcolepsy patients was as follows: 0.37 ± 0.73 for the first 50 epochs of N2; 0.65 ± 1.09 for the last 50 epochs of N2; and 0.51 ± 0.93 for all 100 epochs of N2. Spindle index data in the 8 IH patients was as follows: 2.31 ± 2.23 for the first 50 epochs of N2; 2.84 ± 2.43 for the last 50 epochs of N2; and 2.57 ± 2.35 for all 100 epochs of N2. Intergroup differences in spindle count in the first 50 N2 epochs, the last 50 N2 epochs, and all 100 epochs of scored N2 were significant (P < 0.01) as were the intragroup differences between the first 50 N2 epochs and the last 50 N2 epochs.