UNASSIGNED: Radiographic horizontal gaze deviation (RHGD) has been identified as a useful finding on computed tomography (CT) that indicates the affected side in supratentorial ischemic stroke; however, it remains unclear whether RHGD is essentially the same phenomenon as physical horizontal gaze deviation (PHGD). To resolve the issue, this study was conducted.
UNASSIGNED: Retrospective analyses were performed for 671 patients with ischemic stroke and 142 controls who were hospitalized and underwent head CT. First, clinical findings were examined to find differences between RHGD-positive and RHGD-negative patients. Second, patients were classified by their stroke mechanisms and/or affected vascular territories. For each subgroup, RHGD was compared with PHGD in frequency. Third, the proportions for patients divided by positivity for PHGD and RHGD were calculated in the subgroups.
UNASSIGNED: Patients with RHGD had PHGD more often than those without. In all stroke subgroups, RHGD was more frequent than PHGD. The frequency difference was prominent in small-artery occlusion (SAO) and posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) stroke. In SAO of the basilar artery pontine perforator, RHGD was positive in 25% and largely contralesionally-directed. In PICA stroke, lesions in the vestibulocerebellum were associated with contralesional RHGD. Moreover, lesions in the lateral medulla also caused RHGD, which was mainly directed to the ipsilesional side. PHGD-positive stroke without RHGD was infrequent, whereas RHGD-positive stroke without PHGD was commonly observed (PICA stroke, 45.9%; other subgroups, 21.1%-27.5%).
UNASSIGNED: RHGD had different characteristics from PHGD; therefore, assessments of both PHGD and RHGD may lead to more accurate diagnoses.

OBJECTIVE: The prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) essentially depends on both prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Endovascular stroke therapy (EST) proved to be highly efficient in the treatment of emergent large vessel occluding (ELVO) strokes in the anterior circulation. To achieve a timely diagnosis, a robust combination of few and simple signs to identify ELVOs in AIS patients applicable by paramedics in the prehospital triage is worthwhile.
METHODS: This retrospective single-center study included 904 AIS patients (324 ELVO, 580 non-ELVO) admitted between 2010 and 2015 in a tertiary stroke center. We re-evaluated two symptoms based on NIHSS items, gaze deviation and hemiparesis of the limbs (\"Gaze deviation and Paresis Score, GPS\") for the pre-hospital prediction of ELVO.
RESULTS: A positive GPS AIS in patients predicted ELVO with a sensitivity of 0.89, specificity = 0.97, positive predictive value (PPV) = 0.95, negative predictive value (NPV) = 0.94 and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) = 34.25 (CI: 20.75-56.53). The positive Likelihood-ratio (LR+) was 29.67, the negative Likelihood ratio (LR-) 0.11. NIHSS of patients with positive GPS (gaze palsy NIHSS ≥ 0, Motor arm NIHSS ≥2 and Motor leg NIHSS ≥2) was markedly higher compared to negative GPS patients (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: The GPS proved to be similarly accurate in detecting ELVO in the anterior circulation of AIS patients and even more specific than other published clinical scores. Its simplicity and clarity might enable non-neurological medical staff to identify ELVO AIS patients with high certainty in a preclinical setting.

BACKGROUND: Gaze deviation (GD) in acute ischemic stroke patients has been suggested to be associated with poor outcome and with the presence of large vessel occlusion. Our aim was to study the prognostic significance of GD in ischemic stroke patients submitted to acute revascularization treatments.
METHODS: Retrospective single-center study of consecutive anterior circulation ischemic stroke patients submitted to thrombolysis and/or endovascular revascularization between 2007 and 2017. The groups of patients with and without GD were compared concerning baseline clinical and imagiological variables, functional outcome at 3 months, and survival at 1 year.
RESULTS: Among a study population of 711 patients, 332 (46.7%) presented GD. Patients with GD were more frequently of female sex (p = 0.048), had higher baseline NIHSS scores (p < 0.001), had lower ASPECTS on baseline CT (p < 0.001), more frequently had ischemia of the right hemisphere (p < 0.001), presented higher NIHSS 24 hours after treatment (p < 0.001), and more frequently presented cardioembolic stroke (p = 0.003). In the unadjusted analyses, GD was associated with decreased 3-month functional independence and increased 1-month and 1 year mortality (p < 0.001). After adjustment for variables of interest, namely, for NIHSS 24 hours after treatment, GD was no longer associated with functional outcome or survival.
CONCLUSIONS: GD in patients with acute ischemic stroke is associated with increased clinical and imagiological severity at baseline. However, in patients submitted to acute revascularization treatments, this does not appear to be independent predictor of functional outcome or survival.

Horizontal gaze deviation (HGD) on computed tomography (CT) is considered a useful finding for detecting ischemic stroke. To enhance its availability, we studied the criterion suitable for visual determination and lesion characteristics. The clinical records of 327 ischemic stroke patients and 193 non-stroke controls were reviewed with measurements of eye deviation angles on CT. Initially, the HGD criterion defined by the minimum angle in unidirectionally deviated eyes was determined from control data. Subsequently, patients were classified by infarcted arterial territory and stroke subtype, and compared with controls in HGD frequency using Fisher\'s exact test. In patients with middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke, ipsilesional HGD during a week from symptom onset was modeled in a mixed-effects logistic regression analysis. Among the controls, 4.9% were categorized as pathological with a cutoff of 14°. HGD frequency was significantly increased in most stroke subgroups and prominent in MCA cardioaortic embolism (odds ratio and 95% confidence interval, 24.2 [9.6, 66.3]) and posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) stroke (15.6 [3.2, 76.2]). In MCA stroke, ipsilesional HGD probability decreased daily (0.62 [0.48, 0.78]) and increased with cardioaortic embolism (4.12 [1.05, 16.16]) and lenticular nucleus lesions (3.36 [1.18, 9.58]). HGD is judged pathological if both eyes are unidirectionally deviated by ≥ 14°. This CT sign is frequent in MCA cardioaortic embolism and PICA stroke but does not necessarily indicate specific lesions. In MCA stroke, HGD is influenced by time, stroke subtype, and lesion location. The criterion and basic information on lesion characteristics may enhance the availability of HGD.