In pediatrics ultrasound has long been viewed more favorably than imaging that exposes patients to radiation and iodinated contrast or requires sedation. It is child-friendly and diagnostic capabilities have been improved with the advent of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). The application of CEUS is indeed promising. However, no ultrasound contrast agent manufactured today is registered for pediatric use in Europe. The contrast agent SonoVue^® has recently been approved by the FDA under the name of Lumason^® to be used in hepatic investigations in adults and children. This article reviews the literature with respect to 2 specific applications of CEUS in children: 1) identification of parenchymal injuries following blunt abdominal trauma, and 2) classification of focal liver lesions. Applications were chosen through the CEUS guidelines published by the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology and World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Literature was obtained by searching Medline and Pubmed Central (using Pubmed), Scopus database and Embase. CEUS proved to be an effective investigation in the hemodynamically stable child for identifying parenchymal injuries and for the characterization of focal liver lesions. CEUS showed comparable performance to CT and MRI with a specificity of 98% for identifying benign lesions and a negative predictive value of 100%. For the applications reviewed here, CEUS holds promising perspectives and can help reduce radiation exposure and use of iodinated contrast agents in pediatrics, thereby potentially reducing complications in routine imaging.

Background: Stroke patients ≥80 years constituted only 15% in randomised trials on mechanical thrombectomy (MT), but is a considerable higher proportion in clinical practice. Association of clinical variables collected before MT with functional outcome has not been independently described in these patients, while being important in the decision of patient eligibility for MT. Methods: We included patients consecutively at a single centre (2017–2021) categorised as octogenarians (age: 80–89 years) or nonagenarians (age: 90–99 years). Functional outcome at 90 days was defined as fair (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0–3) or poor (mRS 4–6). Clinical variables collected before MT were analysed for association with shift of mRS in a poor direction. Significant predictors were used to produce a risk score of fair outcome. Significance was set at the p < 0.05 level. Results: Nonagenarians (n = 43, 15.5%) compared to octogenarians (n = 235, 84.5%) less likely achieved fair outcome (20.9% vs. 46.0%, p < 0.01) with higher mortality (65.1% vs. 31.9%, p < 0.01). Significant predictors of outcome were: age, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86–0.97); pre-stroke mRS, aOR = 0.57 (95% CI: 0.44–0.73); National Institute of Health Stroke Scale at admission, aOR = 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87–0.95); Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography, aOR = 1.23 (95% CI: 1.05–1.45). After bootstrap validation, the area under the curve of the risk score was 0.74 and the optimal cut-off for fair outcome was a score of >7 points. Conclusions: One in two octogenarians achieved fair outcome, however, only one in five nonagenarians had fair outcome. The clinical risk score could be considered as guidance when deciding patient eligibility for MT.

Background and aim: The thrombectomy in the elderly prediction score (TERPS) for functional outcome after anterior circulation endovascular therapy (EVT) in patients ≥ 80 years was recently developed. The aim of this study was to assess predictors of functional outcome in the elderly and validate the prediction model. Methods: Consecutive patients treated with EVT from the Oslo Acute Reperfusion Stroke Study were evaluated for inclusion. Clinical and radiological parameters were used to calculate the TERPS, and functional outcome were assessed at 3-month follow-up. Results: Out of 1028 patients who underwent EVT for acute ischemic stroke from January 2017 to July 2022, 218 (21.2%) patients ≥ 80 years with anterior ischemic stroke were included. Fair outcome, defined as modified Rankin scale ≤ 3 (mRS), was achieved in 117 (53.7%). In bivariate analyses, male sex (p 0.035), age (p 0.025), baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS, p < 0.001), pre-stroke mRS (p 0.002) and Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography score (ASPECTS, p 0.001) were associated with fair outcome. Significant predictors for fair outcome in regression analyses were lower pre-stroke mRS, adjusted odd ratio, (aOR) 0.67 (95% CI 0.50–0.91, p 0.01), NIHSS, aOR 0.92 (95% CI 0.87–0.97, p 0.002), and higher ASPECTS, aOR 1.22 (95% CI 1.03–1.44, p 0.023). The area under the curve (AUC) using TERPS was 0.74 (95% CI 0.67–0.80). Conclusions: The risk prediction score TERPS showed moderate performance in this external validation. Other variables may still be included to improve the model and validation using other cohorts is recommended. Trial registration: NCT06220981.

Background/Objectives: Antiplatelet therapy after emergent carotid stenting (eCAS) represents a challenge in balancing the risk of intracerebral hemorrhages (ICHs) and in-stent thrombosis (IST). Post-procedural platelet function monitoring may guide antiplatelet therapy and could potentially improve outcomes due to fewer post-procedural complications. Methods: Consecutive eCAS patients (2019–2021) were included in a single-center retrospective observational study. Patients treated with eCAS received peri-procedural eptifibatide followed by dual antiplatelet treatment with aspirin and clopidogrel. The effect of platelet ADP inhibition by clopidogrel was monitored using the Multiplate^® Analyzer (Roche). Clopidogrel non-responders were changed to ticagrelor treatment. The primary outcome was defined as a favorable outcome at 90 days using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) of 0–2 versus 3–6. Safety outcomes included ICH, IST, and mortality. Data were analyzed and compared in clopidogrel- and ticagrelor-treated patients using Fischer’s exact test and multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 105 patients had eCAS, and 28 patients (27%) were clopidogrel non-responders and were changed to treatment with ticagrelor. The favorable outcome was more frequent in ticagrelor-treated patients, 23 (82%), than in clopidogrel-treated patients, 44 (57%), p = 0.036. Numerically, ICH, IST, and mortality were more frequent in clopidogrel-treated patients, but none of the differences were statistically significant. In multivariate analyses, ticagrelor treatment was significantly associated with the favorable outcome, OR = 3.89 (95% CI: 1.09–13.86), p = 0.036. Conclusions: One in four eCAS patients were clopidogrel non-responders. This study suggests that personalized antiplatelet treatment therapy was safe, and that changing treatment to ticagrelor in clopidogrel non-responders was associated with better outcomes in eCAS patients.

Background: Two recent clinical trials showed mechanical thrombectomy (MT) of basilar-artery occlusions (BAO) in stroke to be safe and effective: Endovascular Treatment for Acute BAO (ATTENTION) and BAO Chinese Endovascular (BAOCHE). The trials restricted patient inclusion on both age and pre -stroke mRS, and with both trials conducted in China, population differences may affect generalisability of the trial results. Methods: Consecutive patients with BAO undergoing MT were registered from 2017 to 2021 with retrospective data collection at a single centre with a predominantly Caucasian catchment population of 2.7 million. Age and pre -stroke modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were not absolute contraindications for MT. We present functional outcome as mRS at 90 days, patient characteristics and procedural safety compared to the trial intervention groups. Results: Of the 108 included patients, 50 % achieved mRS 0 -3 at 90 days and mortality was 32 %, which was no different from ATTENTION (46 %, p = 0.40, 37 %, p = 0.31, respectively) and BAOCHE (46 %, p = 0.50, 31 %, p = 0.93). Pre -stroke mRS 0 was seen in 62 %, 89 %, and 77 % of the study patients, ATTENTION, and BAOCHE, respectively. Proximal segment BAO was less common (22 % vs. 31 %, p = 0.04, and 65 %, p < 0.01) and intracranial stenting less frequently used (9 % vs. 40 % and 55 %, p < 0.01) in study patients compared to ATTENTION and BAOCHE, respectively. Conclusion: Outcome of MT in BAO stroke in a clinical patient cohort was similar to recent trials, despite broader patient inclusion and differences in both occluded BAO segment and use of stenting. Our study suggest that MT is safe and effective in a Caucasian population.

Introduction: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) markedly improves the outcome in patients with large vessel occlusion stroke. Given the cardiovascular risk profile of these patients, we wanted to investigate their post‐MT risk of cardiac events compared to other patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).Methods: All hospitalizations for AIS in Denmark from 2014 to 2021 were included in this registry‐based cohort study. Patients were categorized by reperfusion treatment: MT with or without intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), IVT alone, or no reperfusion treatment (NRT). Cardiac events included ischemic heart disease, heart failure, or cardiac death within 6 months of AIS. Pair‐wise group comparisons were performed after inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW).Results: Among 76,092 AIS patients, 4.4% received MT, 15.2% received IVT alone, and 80.4% received NRT. In the MT group, 9.6% of patients experienced cardiac events. After IPTW, MT patients had the highest risk of cardiac events compared to IVT (absolute risk difference [ARD] 4.6%, cause‐specific hazard rate ratio [HRR] 1.42 [95% CI: 1.27–1.60]) and NRT (ARD 4.6%, HRR 1.35 [95% CI: 1.22–1.49]). Pre‐existing cardiac disease was similar across groups (9.2%–11.8%) and after exclusion of patients with prior cardiac disease, the HRR of cardiac events remained consistent with the primary analysis (MT vs. IVT: HRR 1.48 [95% CI: 1.31–1.68]; MT vs. NRT: 1.39 [95% CI: 1.24–155]).Conclusion: 10% of patients with AIS undergoing MT experienced cardiac events within 6 months compared to 5% of other AIS patients. This study identified an unrecognized burden of cardiac disease in this group of AIS patients treated with MT.