Background and Purpose: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a global public health crisis, disrupting emergency healthcare services. We determined whether COVID-19 has resulted in delays in stroke presentation and affected the delivery of acute stroke services in a comprehensive stroke center in Hong Kong. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients with transient ischemic attack and stroke admitted via the acute stroke pathway of Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, during the first 60 days since the first diagnosed COVID-19 case in Hong Kong (COVID-19: January 23, 2020–March 24, 2020). We compared the stroke onset to hospital arrival (onset-to-door) time and timings of inpatient stroke pathways with patients admitted during the same period in 2019 (pre–COVID-19: January 23, 2019–March 24, 2019). Results: Seventy-three patients in COVID-19 were compared with 89 patients in pre–COVID-19. There were no significant differences in age, sex, vascular risk factors, nor stroke severity between the 2 groups ( P >0.05). The median stroke onset-to-door time was ≈1-hour longer in COVID-19 compared with pre–COVID-19 (154 versus 95 minutes, P =0.12), and the proportion of individuals with onset-to-door time within 4.5 hours was significantly lower (55% versus 72%, P =0.024). Significantly fewer cases of transient ischemic attack presented to the hospital during COVID-19 (4% versus 16%, P =0.016), despite no increase in referrals to the transient ischemic attack clinic. Inpatient stroke pathways and treatment time metrics nevertheless did not differ between the 2 groups ( P >0.05 for all comparisons). Conclusions: During the early containment phase of COVID-19, we noted a prolongation in stroke onset to hospital arrival time and a significant reduction in individuals arriving at the hospital within 4.5 hours and presenting with transient ischemic attack. Public education about stroke should continue to be reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Major intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) trials have largely been unable to demonstrate therapeutic benefit in improving functional outcomes. This may be partly due to the heterogeneity of ICH outcomes based on their location, where a small strategic ICH could be debilitating, thus confounding therapeutic effects. We aimed to determine the ideal hematoma volume cutoff for different ICH locations in predicting ICH outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed consecutive ICH patients enrolled in the University of Hong Kong prospective stroke registry from January 2011 to December 2018. Patients with premorbid modified Rankin Scale score >2 or who underwent neurosurgical intervention were excluded. ICH volume cutoff, sensitivity, and specificity in predicting respective 6-month neurological outcomes (good [modified Rankin Scale score 0–2], poor [modified Rankin Scale score 4–6], and mortality) for specific ICH locations were determined using receiver operating characteristic curves. Separate multivariate logistic regression models were also conducted for each location-specific volume cutoff to determine whether these cutoffs were independently associated with respective outcomes. Results: Among 533 ICHs, the volume cutoff for good outcome according to ICH location was 40.5 mL for lobar, 32.5 mL for putamen/external capsule, 5.5 mL for internal capsule/globus pallidus, 6.5 mL for thalamus, 17 mL for cerebellum, and 3 mL for brainstem. ICH smaller than the cutoff for all supratentorial sites had higher odds of good outcomes (all P <0.05). Volumes exceeding 48 mL for lobar, 41 mL for putamen/external capsule, 6 mL for internal capsule/globus pallidus, 9.5 mL for thalamus, 22 mL for cerebellum, and 7.5 mL for brainstem were at greater risk of poor outcomes (all P <0.05). Mortality risks were significantly higher for volumes that exceeded 89.5 mL for lobar, 42 mL for putamen/external capsule, and 21 mL for internal capsule/globus pallidus (all P 0.8), except in predicting good outcome for cerebellum. Conclusions: ICH outcomes differed with location-specific hematoma size. Location-specific volume cutoff should be considered in patient selection for ICH trials.

We investigated if programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression levels were prognostic of survival outcomes after intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). 104 patients with non-metastatic NPC treated with radical IMRT were investigated for their PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) which were correlated with survival endpoints including locoregional failure-free survival (LRFFS), progression-free survival (PFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS). After a median follow-up of 7.6 years, 21 (20.2%), 19 (18.3%) and 31 (29.8%) patients suffered from locoregional failure, distant metastases and overall disease progression, respectively, and 31 (29.8%) patients died. Patients whose tumors had PD-L1 IHC 2+ (moderate to strong membrane staining in ≥ 25% of tumor cells) enjoyed longer LRFFS (5-year 100% vs. 74.4%, Hazard ratio [HR], 0.159, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.021–0.988; P = 0.042) and marginally longer PFS (5-year 95.0% vs. 65.2%, HR, 0.351, 95% CI, 0.08–0.999, P = 0.067) compared to those whose tumors had PD-L1 IHC 0 (minimal membrane staining with PD-L1 in < 5% tumor cells or no staining with PD-L1) or 1+ (minimal to moderate membrane staining with PD-L1 in between 5–24% tumor cells). PD-L1 IHC 2+ was independently prognostic of both LRFFS (P = 0.014) and PFS (P = 0.045) in multivariable analyses. Only induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation was prognostic of DMFS (P = 0.003) and no prognostic factor for OS was identified. PD-L1 expression levels correlated with LRRFS and PFS in non-metastatic NPC treated with radical IMRT. It may play a role in radiosensitivity for NPC, which should be further confirmed in prospective studies using immunotherapy together with IMRT.

Background: Survivors of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are at high risk for recurrent stroke, which is associated with blood pressure control. Because most recurrent stroke events occur within 12 to 18 months of the index ICH, rapid blood pressure control is likely to be crucial. We investigated the frequency and prognostic impact of uncontrolled short‐term hypertension after ICH. Methods and Results: We analyzed data from Massachusetts General Hospital (n=1305) and the University of Hong Kong (n=523). We classified hypertension as controlled, undertreated, or treatment resistant at 3 months after ICH and determined the following: (1) the risk factors for uncontrolled hypertension and (2) whether hypertension control at 3 months is associated with stroke recurrence and mortality. We followed 1828 survivors of ICH for a median of 46.2 months. Only 9 of 234 (4%) recurrent strokes occurred before 3 months after ICH. At 3 months, 713 participants (39%) had controlled hypertension, 755 (41%) had undertreated hypertension, and 360 (20%) had treatment‐resistant hypertension. Black, Hispanic, and Asian race/ethnicity and higher blood pressure at time of ICH increased the risk of uncontrolled hypertension at 3 months (all P <0.05). Uncontrolled hypertension at 3 months was associated with recurrent stroke and mortality during long‐term follow‐up (all P <0.05). Conclusions: Among survivors of ICH, >60% had uncontrolled hypertension at 3 months, with undertreatment accounting for the majority of cases. The 3‐month blood pressure measurements were associated with higher recurrent stroke risk and mortality. Black, Hispanic, and Asian survivors of ICH and those presenting with severe acute hypertensive response were at highest risk for uncontrolled hypertension.

In March 2017, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) announced their new classifications of seizures and epilepsies. Development of these classification systems led by the ILAE is a long and complicated process. Outsiders may find it difficult to understand the arguments behind. We summarize the major developmental milestones of the ILAE classification schemata. An update of the latest classification is also included. It is hope that this review can serve as an outline in learning the taxonomy in epileptology.