Volume Articles

The role of historical medical archives in the genealogical rebuilding of large families affected by neurodegenerative diseases

Chiara Cupidi, Valentina Laganà, Nicoletta Smirne, Amalia Cecilia Bruni*

Commentary: Periostin (POSTN) Regulates Tumor Resistance to Antiangiogenic Therapy in Glioma Models

Soon Young Park, Veerakumar Balasubramaniyan, and John F. de Groot^*

Commentary: Extended-Duration betrixaban reduces the risk of stroke versus standard-Dose enoxaparin among hospitalized medically Ill patients

Tarek Nafee, Dima Nimri, Gerald Chi, Serge Korjian, Yazan Daaboul, Douglas Arbetter, Megan Yee, Purva Jain, Seyedmahdi Pahlavani, Haleigh Williams, Nathan Michalak, Megan Merlo, Usama Talib, C. Michael Gibson*

Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. It results in considerable costs to the healthcare system in the United States. Pharmacologic stroke prophylaxis has been well-studied in patients with atrial fibrillation and in patients with a history of stroke. In-hospital strokes constitute 2.2% to 17% of all strokes and often go undiagnosed in acute medically ill patients. A retrospective analysis of the APEX trial identifies an acutely ill hospitalized patient population that may benefit from extended duration prophylaxis. The hospitalized medically ill are a novel population to target for stroke prophylaxis. This article will discuss the primary results of the APEX sub-study and other trials that have demonstrated stroke reduction with extended duration anticoagulation in this population. This article additionally comments on the clinical relevance of these findings and the importance of the development of short-term risk stratification models to aid clinicians in deciding whether or not to provide pharmacologic stroke prophylaxis to their acutely ill patients at hospital admission.

Arterial stiffness and cognitive dysfunction in alzheimer and parkinson's diseases

Yoon-Sang Oh, Dong-Woo Ryu, Jee-Eun Lee, Joong-Seok Kim^*

Cognitive dysfunction and dementia are important causes of disability and mortality in the elderly population. Over a decade, many studies have found evidence that greater arterial stiffness is associated with impaired cognitive function. Stiff arteries have a direct effect on the brain microvasculature. In this review, we present evidence that arterial stiffness is linked to cognitive dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders represented by Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. We also discuss possible mechanisms of arterial stiffness and cognitive dysfunction other than the universal pathologic features of beta-amyloid for Alzheimer’s disease and alpha-synuclein for Parkinson’s disease.