Objective: We aimed to present neurological profiles and clinical outcomes of patients with acute neurological symptoms, which developed during hospitalization with nonneurological illness. Methods:We organized the neurological alert team (NAT), a neurological rapid response team, to manage in-hospital neurological emergencies. In this registry-based study, we analyzed the clinical profiles and outcomes of patients who were consulted to the NAT. We also compared the 3-month mortality of patients with acute neurological symptoms with that of patients without acute neurological symptoms.Results: Among the 85,507 adult patients, 591 (0.7%) activated the NAT.The most common reason for NAT activation was stroke symptoms (37.6%), followed by seizures (28.6%), and sudden unresponsiveness (24.0%). The most common diagnosis by the NAT neurologists was metabolic encephalopathy (45.5%), followed by ischemic stroke (21.2%) and seizures or status epilepticus (21.0%). Patients with NAT activation had high rates in mortality before hospital discharge (22.5%) and at 3 months (34.7%), transfer to intensive care units (39.6%), and length of hospital stay (43.1 ± 57.1 days). They also had high prevalence of poor functional status (78.1%) and recurrence of neurological symptoms at 3 months (27.2%). In a Cox proportional hazards model, patients with in-hospital neurological emergencies had a hazard ratio of 13.2 in terms of mortality at 3 months (95% confidence interval, 11.5-15.3; P < 0.001).Conclusions: Occurrence of acute neurological symptoms during hospital admission was associated with high rate of mortality and poor functional status. These results call for enhanced awareness and hospital-wide strategies for managing in-hospital neurological emergencies.

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Background Patients who develop hospital-onset unresponsiveness should be promptly managed in order to avoid clinical deterioration. Pupillary examination through pupillary light reflex is the gold standard method in the initial evaluation of unresponsive patients. However, the current method of shining light and subjective description often shows poor reliability. The objective of this study is to explore whether a quantitative measurement of pupillary light reflexes is useful in detecting brain herniation syndrome and predicting neurological outcomes in patients who developed hospital-onset unresponsiveness after admission for non-neurological reasons. Methods This was a registry-based observational study on patients who activated the neurological rapid response team at Asan Medical Center (Seoul, Korea). Hospital-onset unresponsiveness was defined as a newly developed unresponsive state as assessed by the ACDU (Alert, Confused, Drowsy, and Unresponsive) scale during the hospital stay. Demographics, comorbidities, pupillometry parameters including Neurological Pupil index, brain herniation syndrome, in-hospital mortality, and modified Rankin Scale at 3-months were analyzed. Results In 214 consecutive patients with hospital-onset unresponsiveness, 37 (17%) had brain herniation syndrome. The optimal cut-off value of Neurological Pupil index for detecting brain herniation syndrome was < 1.6 (specificity, 91% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 86–95]; sensitivity, 49% [95% CI = 32–66]). The in-hospital mortality rate was 28% (59/214); the Neurological Pupil index was negatively associated with in-hospital mortality after adjustments for the presence of brain herniation syndrome (adjusted odds ratio = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.62–0.96). Poor neurological outcomes (modified Rankin Scale ≥4) at 3 months was observed in 76% (152/201) of the patients; the Neurological Pupil index was negatively associated with poor neurological outcomes after adjustments for clinical variables (adjusted odds ratio = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.49–0.90). Conclusions Quantitative measurements of pupillary light reflexes may be useful for early detection of potentially life-threatening neurological conditions in patients with hospital-onset unresponsiveness.