The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of prediabetes (preDM) and early (<3 years) diabetes mellitus type 2 (eDM2)-associated neuropathy and the value of recently proposed diagnostic criteria for diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN). A prospective case-control study in a group of 48 consecutive patients with eDM2, 16 preDM patients and 40 age- and sex-matched normoglycaemic controls was performed. Clinical and laboratory diagnostic tests were used to detect neuropathic abnormalities; these were further classified in terms of recent diagnostic criteria. Criteria for confirmed DSPN based on abnormal nerve conduction (NC) studies were met in 7 (14.6%) eDM2 patients compared to no control (p < 0.05), and the proportion significantly increased to 37.5% compared to 2.5% controls (p < 0.001), if intraepidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) was used as an alternative criterion in addition to NC. The subclinical DSPN criteria based on NC abnormalities were met in 4.2% eDM2 patients, while the proportion of preDM and eDM2 cases with subclinical sensory small-fibre involvement documented by IENFD reached 12.5% and 22.9% compared with 2.5% controls (p = 0.005 for eDM2). The absolute IENFD values from distal leg were significantly lower in both eDM2 (p < 0.0001) and preDM patients (p = 0.005) compared to controls. Neuropathy associated with preDM/eDM2 predominantly involves sensory small fibres.

The annual rate of IENF loss in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus was several times higher than that of healthy participants, irrespective of the presence of signs or symptoms of diabetic polyneuropathy at initial evaluation. The change in IENFD is not linear and should be expressed as a proportion of initial IENFD to serve as a marker of the course of diabetic neuropathy.

Background and Objectives:Declines in stroke admission, intravenous thrombolysis, and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy over a one-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020).Methods:We conducted a longitudinal retrospective study across 6 continents, 56 countries, and 275 stroke centers. We collected volume data for COVID-19 admissions and 4 stroke metrics: ischemic stroke admissions, ICH admissions, intravenous thrombolysis treatments, and mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.Results:There were 148,895 stroke admissions in the one-year immediately before compared to 138,453 admissions during the one-year pandemic, representing a 7% decline (95% confidence interval [95% CI 7.1, 6.9]; p<0.0001). ICH volumes declined from 29,585 to 28,156 (4.8%, [5.1, 4.6]; p<0.0001) and IVT volume from 24,584 to 23,077 (6.1%, [6.4, 5.8]; p<0.0001). Larger declines were observed at high volume compared to low volume centers (all p<0.0001). There was no significant change in mechanical thrombectomy volumes (0.7%, [0.6,0.9]; p=0.49). Stroke was diagnosed in 1.3% [1.31,1.38] of 406,792 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in 2.9% ([2.82,2.97], 5,656/195,539) of all stroke hospitalizations.Discussion:There was a global decline and shift to lower volume centers of stroke admission volumes, ICH volumes, and IVT volumes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the prior year. Mechanical thrombectomy volumes were preserved. These results suggest preservation in the stroke care of higher severity of disease through the first pandemic year.Trial Registration Information:This study is registered underNCT04934020.

Serial IENFD measurements confirmed the development of small-fiber sensory involvement in the acute phase of critical illness.

Background and aims Fabry disease (FD) is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by disease-associated variants in the alpha-galactosidase A gene (GLA). FD is a known cause of stroke in younger patients. There are limited data on prevalence of FD and stroke risk in unselected stroke patients. Methods A prospective nationwide study including 35 (78%) of all 45 stroke centers and all consecutive stroke patients admitted during three months. Clinical data were collected in the RES-Q database. FD was diagnosed using dried blood spots in a stepwise manner: in males—enzymatic activity, globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3) quantification, if positive followed by GLA gene sequencing; and in females GLA sequencing followed by lyso-Gb3. Results 986 consecutive patients (54% men, mean age 70 years) were included. Observed stroke type was ischemic 79%, transient ischemic attack (TIA) 14%, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) 7%, subarachnoid hemorrhage 1% and cerebral venous thrombosis 0.1%. Two (0.2%, 95% CI 0.02–0.7) patients had a pathogenic variant associated with the classical FD phenotype (c.1235_1236delCT and p.G325S). Another fourteen (1.4%, 95% CI 0.08–2.4) patients had a variant of GLA gene considered benign (9 with p.D313Y, one p.A143T, one p.R118C, one p.V199A, one p.R30K and one p.R38G). The index stroke in two carriers of disease-associated variant was ischemic lacunar. In 14 carriers of GLA gene variants 11 strokes were ischemic, two TIA, and one ICH. Patients with positive as compared to negative GLA gene screening were younger (mean 60±SD, min, max, vs 70±SD, min, max, P = 0.02), otherwise there were no differences in other baseline variables. Conclusions The prevalence of FD in unselected adult patients with acute stroke is 0.2%. Both patients who had a pathogenic GLA gene variant were younger than 50 years. Our results support FD screening in patients that had a stroke event before 50 years of age.