Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of human urinary kallidinogenase injection (HUK) in treating patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods Through adopting Cochrane systematic review methods, the relevant materials were retrieved by electronically and manually searching databases and claimed from pharmaceutical factories, so as to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about HUK for the patients with acute ischemic stroke, which were searched by the end of October 2010. The quality of each trial was assessed by two reviewers independently, and meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan 5.0.2 software. Results Twenty-four trials involving 2 433 patients were included, of which 2 were multi-center placebo controlled trials, and the other 22 were all non-placebo trials. Only 2 trials (459 cases) reported the death or dependence at the end of 3-month follow-up. In those trials, HUK reduced death or dependency comparing to the control group (RR=0.69, 95%CI 0.55 to 0.86). Twenty trials (2 117 patients) reported the proportion of patients with marked neurological improvement after finishing the 7 to 21 days treatment. Meta-analysis showed the HUK group had more neurological improvement than the control group, with significant differences (RR=1.56, 95%CI 1.44 to 1.70). Fifteen trials reported adverse events, of which the transient hypotension was commonly seen (1.5%-5.1%). Non-fatal intracerebral hemorrhage was detected in 7 patients in 3 trials, but the difference between the HUK group (6 patients, 1.2%) and the control group (1 patient, 0.4%) was not significant (RR=1.82, 95%CI 0.34 to 9.61). Deaths occurred in both HUK group (2 patients, 0.4%) and the control group (1 patient, 1.1%) in 2 trials, without significant differences (RR=0.6, 95%CI 0.09 to 3.92). No trial assessed quality of life. Conclusion Available evidence suggests that HUK injection reduces neurological impairment after acute ischemic stroke and improves long-term outcomes, though a few patients suffer from transient hypotension. Further high-quality, large-scale RCTs are needed to confirm these results.
Cerebral small vessel disease is a common neurological disease, including acute and non-acute categories. With the development of neuroimaging, cerebral small vessel disease has attracted substantial attention in recent years. However, the categories and concepts of cerebral small vessel disease and the related imaging markers usually confuse people. The purpose of this study was to discuss the relationships among acute and non-acute cerebral small vessel disease and the imaging markers, so as to improve the understanding of cerebral small vessel disease, and to shed light on clinical practice and research.
Cerebral microinfarcts are presumed to be a manifestation of ischemic cerebral small vessel disease. It is presumed to have close relationship with dementia and cerebrovascular disease. With the advancement of imaging technology, high-resolution MRI has been found to detect microinfarctions in vivo. Current studies have shown that cerebral microinfarctions are not only commonly in individuals with dementia and elderly with normal aging, but also in patients with ischemic stroke. Based on the recently published MRI studies of microinfarcts in ischemic stroke patients, this paper summarizes the detection rate, risk factors, etiology and prognosis of cerebral microinfarcts, and aims to provide new ideas for the formulation of prevention and treatment strategies of cerebral microinfarcts related brain damage in ischemic stroke patients.