Background and purpose The Frank’s sign is a diagonal earlobe crease running from the tragus to the edge of the auricle at an angle of 45°. Many studies have associated this sign with coronary artery disease and some with cerebrovascular disease. The objective of this study was to analyse the prevalence of the Frank’s sign in patients suffering from acute stroke with a particular focus on its prevalence in each of the five aetiopathogenic stroke subtypes. Special interest is given to embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS), correlating the sign with clinical and radiological markers that support an underlying causal profile in this subgroup. Methods Cross-sectional descriptive study including 124 patients admitted consecutively to a stroke unit after suffering an acute stroke. The Frank’s sign was evaluated by the same blinded member of the research team from photographs taken of the patients. The stroke subtype was classified following SSS-TOAST criteria and the aetiological study was performed following the ESO guidelines. Results The Frank’s sign was present in 75 patients and was more prevalent in patients with an ischaemic stroke in comparison with haemorrhagic stroke (63.9 vs. 37.5, p<0.05). A similar prevalence was found in the different ischaemic stroke subtypes. The Frank’s sign was significantly associated with age, particularly in patients older than 70 who had vascular risk factors. Atherosclerotic plaques found in carotid ultrasonography were significantly more frequent in patients with the Frank’s sign (63.6%, p<0.05). Analysing the ESUS, we also found an association with age and a higher prevalence of the Frank’s sign in patients with vascular risk factors and a tendency to a high prevalence of atherosclerosis markers. Conclusion The Frank’s sign is prevalent in all aetiopathogenic ischaemic stroke subtypes, including ESUS, where it could be helpful in suspecting the underlying cardioembolic or atherothrombotic origin and guiding the investigation of atherosclerosis in patients with ESUS and the Frank’s sign.

Introduction: Previous studies have reported differences in the management and outcome of women stroke patients in comparison with men. We aim to analyze sex and gender differences in the medical assistance, access to treatment and outcome of acute stroke patients in Catalonia. Patients and methods: Data were obtained from a prospective population-based registry of stroke code activations in Catalonia (CICAT) from January/2016 to December/2019. The registry includes demographic data, stroke severity, stroke subtype, reperfusion therapy, and time workflow. Centralized clinical outcome at 90 days was assessed in patients receiving reperfusion therapy. Results: A total of 23,371 stroke code activations were registered (54% men, 46% women). No differences in prehospital time metrics were observed. Women more frequently had a final diagnosis of stroke mimic, were older and had a previous worse functional situation. Among ischemic stroke patients, women had higher stroke severity and more frequently presented proximal large vessel occlusion. Women received more frequently reperfusion therapy (48.2% vs 43.1%, p < 0.001). Women tended to present a worse outcome at 90 days, especially for the group receiving only IVT (good outcome 56.7% vs 63.8%; p < 0.001), but not for the group of patients treated with IVT + MT or MT alone, although sex was not independently associated with clinical outcome in logistic regression analysis (OR 1.07; 95% CI, 0.94–1.23; p = 0.27) nor in the analysis after matching using the propensity score (OR 1.09; 95% CI, 0.97–1.22). Discussion and conclusion: We found some differences by sex in that acute stroke was more frequent in older women and the stroke severity was higher. We found no differences in medical assistance times, access to reperfusion treatment and early complications. Worse clinical outcome at 90 days in women was conditioned by stroke severity and older age, but not by sex itself.

Objectives We want to report the clinical and radiological features of our cohort of patients diagnosed with cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation (CAA-RI) according to the Boston Criteria and additionally to disclose some atypical clinical characteristics observed in some of them to provide more knowledge about this novel entity. Methods We describe 5 patients with probable CAA-RI according to a validation study of proposed criteria for the diagnosis of CAA-RI at University Hospital Josep Trueta of Girona. We consider some clinical characteristics which include the response to immunotherapy, CSF findings, and MRI features. The patient’s neurologic outcomes were assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Results We collected 5 patients admitted for probable CAA-RI. Most were women and the median age was 72 years. The median mRS score at the onset of disease was 1. Parietal lobes were most affected clinically as well as radiologically. Two patients had intracranial hemorrhage. Decreased levels of CSF amyloid beta 42 and 40 protein were observed. Corticosteroids were used in four patients and a remarkable improvement was observed in all of them. Conclusions CAA-RI is a condition that predominantly affects parietal lobes according to our case series and this involvement seems to be directly related to a greater burden of microbleeds, cortical siderosis, WMH, and lobar hemorrhages on these lobes. Decreased levels of CSF amyloid beta protein plus increased total tau protein should be considered as part of the diagnostic criteria of CAA-RI. We recommend corticosteroids using, as they have been demonstrated to be very effective in managing CAA-RI.

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Objective This study aims to report the clinical heterogeneity of myoclonus in 6 patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods Patient data were obtained from medical records from the University Hospital Dr. Josep Trueta, Girona, Spain. Results Six patients (5 men and 1 woman, aged 60–76 years) presented with different myoclonus phenotypes. All of them had a medical history of hypertension and overweight. The latency of myoclonus appearance ranged from 1 to 129 days. The phenotype most observed was generalized myoclonus. Special phenotypes such as painful legs and moving toes syndrome with jerking feet, Lazarus sign-like, action myoclonus/ataxia syndrome, and segmental myoclonus secondary to myelitis have been described too. Levetiracetam and clonazepam were medications most used successfully. Two patients died for complications not related to myoclonus. Conclusions Our 6 cases highlight the heterogeneity of the clinical spectrum of myoclonus associated to COVID-19 (MYaCO). MYaCO pathogenesis is suspected to be due to an immune-mediated para- or post-infectious phenomenon; nevertheless, further research is needed to elucidate this hypothesis. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10072-021-05802-1.