Background and Purpose— Cerebellar venous infarction or hemorrhage due to isolated venous thrombosis of the posterior fossa is a rare form of intracranial vein thrombosis that can be unsuspected in clinical practice. Methods— We studied 230 patients with intracranial vein thrombosis, identifying 9 (3.9%: 7 women, mean age 34 years) with neuroimaging or histopathologic evidence of localized posterior fossa vein thrombosis causing parenchymal injury limited exclusively to the cerebellum. Results— All patients had an insidious presentation suggesting other diagnoses. Intracranial hypertension (n=6) and cerebellar (n=4) syndromes were the main clinical presentations. Intracranial vein thrombosis was idiopathic in 3 patients; associated with puerperium in 3; and with contraceptives, protein C deficiency, and dehydration in 1 case each. CT was abnormal but not diagnostic in 5 patients, showing a cerebellar hypodensity with fourth ventricle compression and variable hydrocephalus in 5 patients, and cerebellar hemorrhage in 2. Conventional MRI provided diagnosis in 6 cases, showing the causal thrombosis and cerebellar involvement; angiography was practiced in 2 of them, confirming the findings identified by MRI. In the other 3 patients, diagnosis was reached by histopathology. Thromboses were localized at the straight sinus (n=4), lateral sinuses (n=3), and superior petrosal vein (n=2). The acute case fatality rate was 22.2% (n=2), 1 (11.1%) patient was discharged in a vegetative state, 1 (11.1%) was severely disabled, and 5 (55.6%) were moderately disabled. Conclusions— Isolated venous thrombosis of the posterior fossa is infrequent and implies a challenging diagnosis. Risk factors for intracranial vein thrombosis and atypical cerebellar findings on CT should lead to further MRI assessment.

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is the second most common cause of cognitive impairment after Alzheimer's disease. The VCI spectrum involves a decline in cognition attributable to vascular pathologies (e.g., large infarcts or hemorrhages, microinfarcts, microbleeds, lacunar infarcts, white matter hyperintensities, and perivascular space dilation). Pathophysiological mechanisms include direct tissue injury, small vessel disease, inflammaging (inflammation + aging), atrophy, and altered neurotransmission. VCI is diagnosed using distinct clinical and radiological criteria. It may lead to long-term disability and reduced quality of life. An essential factor for reducing cognitive impairment incidence is preventing stroke by managing traditional and non-traditional cerebrovascular risk factors. This article reviews the spectrum of VCI, epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, diagnosis, available treatment, and preventive strategies.

Background and purpose: Stroke has been scarcely studied in Latin America (LA). The Mexican Institute of Neurology Stroke Registry was established in 1990 as a prospective computer-based database to register data obtained from patients admitted with stroke. Using this data, we attempted to define the profile of risk factors and outcomes. Methods: The demographic data, stroke description, ancillary tests, vascular risk factors, and modified Rankin scale (mRs) were registered. Ischemic stroke subtyping was based on the Trial of Org 10,172 of the Acute Stroke Treatment classification. We followed-up patients using multiple overlapping methods. Primary outcomes included mRs, recurrence, and death at 30 days and at the end of follow-up. Results: We included 4,481 patients with a median follow-up of 27 months, (17,281 person-years follow-up). The mean age was 52.8 ± 18 years. There were 2,229 males (50%) included in the study. CI was present in 64.9%, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in 25.6%, and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) in 6.3%. Hypertension was the major risk factor (46.5%). The most common cause of CI was atherosclerosis (27%). ICH was mainly hypertensive (58%), and 60% of CVT were puerperal. Overall, the mortality rate was 24.5%. The recurrence rate was 16.9%. Poor outcome (mRs ≥ 3) was found in 56.2% of patients. The best outcomes were observed in CVT patients (74.5% mRs ≤ 2), whereas 72.1% ICH patients had mRs ≥3. Conclusion: This is one of the largest hospital-based registries in LA and shows significant differences with other previously published registries, including a younger age, relatively less hypertension, and larger proportion of CVT. Poor functional outcome was common. This study adds to the understanding of geographic differences in stroke characteristics and outcomes.