Subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) treatment has been shown to control symptoms and improve overall satisfaction in patients with neurological disorders. However, a large injection volume can be overwhelming and a barrier to successful SCIg treatment. We established a nurse-led individualized approach program to facilitate a smooth and successful treatment transition from intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) to SCIg. The program involved a lead nurse to provide two or more individual educational sessions on SCIg administration, establish a written transition plan, and liaise care with physicians.

We aimed to evaluate the impact of our program to a successful transition defined as SCIg retention or adherence without a need to restart IVIg by six or twelve months.

We reviewed medical charts of all patients with immune-mediated neuromuscular disorders who were in our program during January 2010 to Dec 2016.

Nineteen patients were identified. Mean IVIg treatment duration was 31.5 months (range 4-98) before the transition. Mean steady state SCIg dosage was 26.2 g/week (SD 10.3). All patients were initially able to switch to SCIg, with a retention rate of 17/19 (89.5%) at six months and 15/19 (78.9%) at twelve months. Two patients reverted back to IVIg treatment due to worsening of their symptoms at two and three months, while two required supplemental IVIg infusions. There were no major adverse events reported during the twelve-month period, but one minor cutaneous adverse event (redness around the injection site).

Successful treatment transition may be achieved with the nurse led individualized approach program.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a disease of abnormal vasculature where patients are predisposed to strokes of multiple etiologies. We assessed yearly stroke incidence among Albertans with HHT and compared with the general population. Given the tendency for stroke in HHT patients, we expected HHT patients to have higher stroke incidence, in particular at younger ages.

Population-based administrative health data on inpatient and ambulatory admissions were extracted over a 16-year period using International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 and ICD-10, Canada codes. We analyzed overall occurrence of strokes in Alberta by age, gender, stroke subtype, and diagnosis of HHT.

The age-standardized incidence rate of stroke in HHT was 450 per 100,000 compared with 260 per 100,000 in the general population with a rate ratio of 1.73 (95% confidence interval (CI) [1.046-2.842]). This study found a higher HHT prevalence in Alberta (1 in 3800) compared to the world average of 1 in 5000. Women were also more likely to be diagnosed with HHT, with a 3.25:1 female gender preponderance in the yearly incidence.

This study not only shows that HHT patients are at higher risk of having a stroke but also quantifies that risk using an age-adjusted metric in Alberta. This province has a higher than expected disease burden of HHT, with the majority of cases affecting women. Our study found that acute ischemic strokes and transient ischemic attacks are far more common than hemorrhage in HHT. As HHT is a rare, multi-system, chronic disease, these patients should be referred to an HHT Centre of Excellence.

Alteplase is an effective treatment for ischaemic stroke patients, and it is widely available at all primary stroke centres. The effectiveness of alteplase is highly time-dependent. Large tertiary centres have reported significant improvements in their door-to-needle (DTN) times. However, these same improvements have not been reported at community hospitals.

Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC) is a community hospital of 370 beds that serves approximately 150,000 people in their acute stroke catchment area. The RDRHC participated in a provincial DTN improvement initiative, and implemented a streamlined algorithm for the treatment of stroke patients. During this intervention period, they implemented the following changes: early alert of an incoming acute stroke patient to the neurologist and care team, meeting the patient immediately upon arrival, parallel work processes, keeping the patient on the Emergency Medical Service stretcher to the CT scanner, and administering alteplase in the imaging area. Door-to-needle data were collected from July 2007 to December 2017.

A total of 289 patients were treated from July 2007 to December 2017. In the pre-intervention period, 165 patients received alteplase and the median DTN time was 77 minutes [interquartile range (IQR): 60–103 minutes]; in the post-intervention period, 104 patients received alteplase and the median DTN time was 30 minutes (IQR: 22–42 minutes) (p < 0.001). The annual number of patients that received alteplase increased from 9 to 29 in the pre-intervention period to annual numbers of 41 to 63 patients in the post-intervention period.

Community hospitals staffed with community neurologists can achieve median DTN times of 30 minutes or less.

In 2010, we published our stroke prevention clinic’s performance as compared to Canadian stroke prevention guidelines. We now compare our clinic’s adherence with guidelines to our previous results, following the implementation of an electronic documentation form.

All new patients referred to our clinic (McGill University Health Center) for recent transient ischemic attack (TIA) or ischemic stroke between 2014 and 2017 were included. We compared adherence to guidelines to our previous report (N=408 patients for period 2008–2010) regarding vascular risk management and treatment.

Three hundred and ninety-two patients were included, of which 36% had a TIA and 64% had an ischemic stroke, with a mean age of 70 years and 43% female. Although the more recent cohort has shown a higher proportion of cardioembolic stroke compared to previous (19.1% vs. 14.7%) following new guidelines regarding prolonged cardiac monitoring, increased popularity in CT angiography has not translated into greater proportion of large-artery stroke subtype (26.3% vs. 26.2%). Blood pressure (BP) targets were achieved in 83% compared with 70% in our previous report (p<0.01). Attainment of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target was also improved in our recent study (66% vs. 46%, p<0.01). No significant difference was found in the consistency of antithrombotic use (97.7% vs. 99.8%, p=0.08). However, there was a decline in smoking cessation (35% vs. 73%, p=0.02). Overall, optimal therapy status was better attained in the present cohort compared to the previous one (52% vs. 22%, p<0.01). The male sex was associated with better attainment of optimal therapy status (odds ratio, 1.61; 95% confidence interval, 1.04–2.51). The number of follow-up visits and the length of follow-up were not associated with attainment of stroke prevention targets.

Our study shows improvement in attainment of therapeutic goals as recommended by Canadian stroke prevention guidelines, possibly attributed in part to the implementation of electronic medical recording in our clinic. Areas for improvement include smoking cessation counseling and diabetes screening.

Benign epilepsy of childhood with central temporal spikes (BECTS) and absence epilepsy are common epilepsy syndromes in children with similar age of onset and favorable prognosis. However, the co-existence of the electrocardiogram (EEG) findings of rolandic spike and 3 Hz generalized spike-wave (GSW) discharges is extremely rare, with few cases reported in the literature. Our objective was to characterize the EEG findings of these syndromes in children in our center and review the electro-clinical features.

All EEGs at BC Children’s Hospital are entered in a database, which include EEG findings and clinical data. Patients with both centro-temporal spikes and 3 Hz GSW discharges were identified from the database and clinical data were reviewed.

Among the 43,061 patients in the database from 1992 to 2017, 1426 with isolated rolandic discharges and 528 patients with isolated 3 Hz GSW discharges were identified, and 20 (0.05%) patients had both findings: 3/20 had BECTS, and subsequently developed childhood absence epilepsy and 17/20 had no seizures characteristic for BECTS. At follow-up, 17 (85%) were seizure-free, 1 (5%) had rare, and 2 (10%) had frequent seizures.

This is the largest reported group of patients to our knowledge with the co-existence of rolandic and 3 Hz GSW discharges on EEGs in one institution, not drug-induced. As the presence of both findings is extremely rare, distinct pathophysiological mechanisms are likely. The majority had excellent seizure control at follow-up, similar to what would be expected for each type of epilepsy alone.

As cognitive impairment increases with age, sulcal atrophy (SA) and the enlargement of the ventricles also increase. Considering the measurements on the previously proposed visual scales, a new scale is proposed in this study that allows us to evaluate the atrophy, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), basal ganglia infarct (BGI), and infratentorial infarct (ITI) together. Our aim of this study is to propose a practical and standardized MRI for the clinicians to be used in daily practice.

A total of 97 patients older than 60 years and diagnosed with depression or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are included. Cranial MRI, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), detailed neuropsychometric tests, and depression scales are applied to all patients. The SA, ventricular atrophy (VA), medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), periventricular WMH (PWMH), subcortical WMH (SCWMH), BGI, and ITI are scored according to the scale. The total score is also recorded.

The average age of the patients was 74.53, and the mean MMSE score was 22.7 in the degenerative group and 27.8 in the non-degenerative group. Among the patients, 50 were diagnosed with AD. All parameters significantly increased with age. In the degenerative group, SA, VA, MTA, PWMH, SCWMH, and total scores were found to be significantly higher. Sensitivities of VA, PWMH, SCWMH, and total scores, as well as both sensitivity and specificities of MTA score, were observed to be high. When they were combined, sensitivities and specificities were found to be high.

The scale is observed to be predictive in discriminating degenerative and non-degenerative processes. This discrimination is important, particularly in depressive patients complaining of forgetfulness.

Lumbar puncture (LP) performed with the assistance of ultrasound (US) may improve success rate, with fewer puncture attempts and less pain.

To explore the utility of US-assisted LP in a neuromuscular clinic.

We performed a prospective, randomized, open-label study between May 2016 and January 2017. The primary outcome measure was LP success rate, and the secondary outcome measures included procedure time, number of attempts, and the levels of pain, anxiety, and satisfaction.

Lumbar puncture was performed in 40 consecutive patients. Ultrasound-assisted LP had a 100% success rate, compared with 85% (95% confidence interval: 58%-96%) without US assistance, although this difference failed to reach statistical significance. Ultrasound-assisted LP was associated with less pain and, also in patients >60 years of age, with fewer needle insertions. Both groups reported high satisfaction rates, regardless of the use of US.

Ultrasound-assisted LP has a high success rate and less pain than unassisted LP, and can be accomplished easily in the outpatient neuromuscular clinic setting equipped with US.

We aimed to interrogate the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) database in order to determine the geographic distribution and outcomes of microvascular decompression (MVD) for the treatment of hemifacial spasm (HFS).

The CIHI database was searched from 2004 to 2017 for relevant diagnostic and procedure codes. A new database was populated with the following categories: year, institution, province, number of interventions per year, and mean length of stay. Descriptive statistics were generated. Provincial utilization rates of MVD for HFS were calculated.

During the period 2004-17, we identified 671 MVDs performed for HFS at 20 centers across Canada. During the study period, 286 MVDs (42.6%) were performed at one center in Manitoba. Another 131 (19.5%) and 72 (10.7%) were performed at one center in British Columbia and Ontario, respectively. The remaining 182 (27.1%) MVDs for HFS were performed at 17 centers across the rest of Canada where the mean number of cases performed per year was 1.1 (SD=0.9, range 0.2-2.9). When out-of-province cases were re-allocated to place of residence, the adjusted provincial utilization of MVD for HFS ranged between 0.5 and 6.1 patients per million per year.

Microvascular decompression for HFS is performed relatively rarely and there is a tremendous geographic variation in utilization across Canada. Although most of these surgeries are performed by a few surgeons, more than half of Canadian centers perform an average of less than 1 case per year. Further examination of the impact of these discrepancies appears warranted.

Computer-assisted navigation (CAN) improves the accuracy of spinal instrumentation in vertebral fractures and degenerative spine disease; however, it is not widely adopted because of lack of training, high capital costs, workflow hindrances, and accuracy concerns. We characterize shifts in the use of spinal CAN over time and across disciplines in a single-payer health system, and assess the impact of intra-operative CAN on trainee proficiency across Canada.

A prospectively maintained Ontario database of patients undergoing spinal instrumentation from 2005 to 2014 was reviewed retrospectively. Data were collected on treated pathology, spine region, surgical approach, institution type, and surgeon specialty. Trainee proficiency with CAN was assessed using an electronic questionnaire distributed across 15 Canadian orthopedic surgical and neurosurgical programs.

In our provincial cohort, 16.8% of instrumented fusions were CAN-guided. Navigation was used more frequently in academic institutions (15.9% vs. 12.3%, p<0.001) and by neurosurgeons than orthopedic surgeons (21.0% vs. 12.4%, p<0.001). Of residents and fellows 34.1% were fully comfortable using spinal CAN, greater for neurosurgical than orthopedic surgical trainees (48.1% vs. 11.8%, p=0.008). The use of CAN increased self-reported proficiency in thoracic instrumentation for all trainees by 11.0% (p=0.036), and in atlantoaxial instrumentation for orthopedic trainees by 18.0% (p=0.014).

Spinal CAN is used most frequently by neurosurgeons and in academic centers. Most spine surgical trainees are not fully comfortable with the use of CAN, but report an increase in technical comfort with CAN guidance particularly for thoracic instrumentation. Increased education in spinal CAN for trainees, particularly at the fellowship stage and, specifically, for orthopedic surgery, may improve adoption.

The expansion of age-related degenerative spine pathologies has led to increased referrals to spine surgeons. However, the majority of patients referred for surgical consultation do not need surgery, leading to inefficient use of healthcare resources. This study aims to elucidate preoperative patient variables that are predictive of patients being offered spine surgery.

We conducted an observational cohort study on patients referred to our institution between May 2013 and January 2015. Patients completed a detailed preclinic questionnaire on items such as history of presenting illness, quality-of-life questionnaires, and past medical history. The primary end point was whether surgery was offered. A multivariable logistical regression using the random forest method was used to determine the odds of being offered surgery based on preoperative patient variables.

An analysis of 1194 patients found that preoperative patient variables that reduced the odds of surgery being offered include mild pain (odds ratio [OR] 0.37, p=0.008), normal walking distance (OR 0.51, p=0.007), and normal sitting tolerance (OR 0.58, p=0.01). Factors that increased the odds of surgery include radiculopathy (OR 2.0, p=0.001), patient’s belief that they should have surgery (OR 1.9, p=0.003), walking distance <50 ft (OR 1.9, p=0.01), relief of symptoms when bending forward (OR 1.7, p=0.008) and sitting (OR 1.6, p=0.009), works more slowly (OR 1.6 p=0.01), aggravation of symptoms by Valsalva (OR 1.4, p=0.03), and pain affecting sitting/standing (OR 1.1, p=0.001).

We identified 11 preoperative variables that were predictive of whether patients were offered surgery, which are important factors to consider when screening outpatient spine referrals.