ChatGPT-4 in Neurosurgery: Improving Patient Education Materials.

Background And Objectives: Adequate understanding of health information has been shown to be a stronger determinant of health than several demographic factors, including age, income, or employment status. However, existing neurosurgical patient education materials (PEMs) may be too complex for the average American and may contribute to poor health literacy. Large language model chatbots may provide a rapid and low-cost means of rewriting existing PEMs at a lower reading level to improve patient understanding and overall health literacy.

In search of real-world cerebroprotection: An institutional perspective and review of the literature.

PurposeIntravenous (IV) thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy remain the only interventions shown to improve outcomes in acute ischemic stroke. This study evaluated the impact of commonly administered intraprocedural medications, each with putative neuroprotective mechanisms backed up by basic science literature, on outcomes in mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke.Methods and ResultsA retrospective review of 284 patients utilizing univariate and multivariate analysis evaluated associations between administration of IV/intra-arterial (IA) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), IV/IA heparin and IA verapamil as well as key outcomes: recanalization success, postoperative hemorrhage, and 90-day functional status.

Endovascular thrombectomy with or without intravenous thrombolysis in acute basilar artery occlusion ischemic stroke: A meta-analysis.

Introduction: It is poorly understood if endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) with or without intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) better facilitates clinical outcomes in patients with acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO) ischemic stroke.

Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was completed to investigate the outcomes of EVT with IVT versus direct EVT alone in acute BAO. Data was collected from the literature and pooled with the authors' institutional experience.

Approaches to and outcomes of intra-arterial tPA in embolectomy for large vessel occlusion.

Introduction: Intra-arterial tissue plasminogen activator (IA tPA) is sometimes used in conjunction with aspiration catheters and stentrievers to achieve recanalization in endovascular thrombectomy (ET) for large vessel occlusion (LVO). Reports of safety and efficacy of this approach are limited by technical heterogeneity and sample size.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a data set of patients undergoing ET for LVO between August 2017 and September 2020 to identify those that received IA tPA.