Latest news with #UniversitédeMontréal
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Response to Posterior Circulation Stroke Delayed in Canada
OTTAWA — The identification and treatment of posterior circulation stroke (PCS) are delayed, compared with anterior circulation stroke (ACS), Canadian data suggested. Researchers described a recent analysis at the Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation (CNSF) Congress 2025. 'The symptoms of a PCS are not the typical symptoms that we tell patients to recognize as a stroke,' study investigator Julián Alejandro Rivillas, MD, a fellow in vascular neurology at the Université de Montréal and Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, told Medscape Medical News . Prehospital scales like the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale, which is often used by emergency medical services, assess for facial droop, arm drift, and abnormal speech. But these scales would not detect a PCS, noted Rivillas. The signs of a PCS generally are not familiar to the public and to first-line responders. This unfamiliarity leads to failure to recognize a PCS promptly, transport a patient quickly to the hospital, and initiate treatment promptly. Thus, the opportunity for intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) is sometimes lost, explained Rivillas. The symptoms of a PCS can include dizziness, hearing loss, difficulty swallowing, double vision, and loss of balance. Registry Data Analyzed The investigators analyzed data from 2018 to 2022 from 20 Canadian stroke centers that participated in the OPTIMISE registry. They included 6391 patients (5929 with ACS and 462 with PCS) in their analysis. Patients with PCS were younger (67 years vs 71.3 years; P < .001), more often men (61.9% vs 48.6%; P < .001), had longer onset-to-door times (362 minutes vs 256 minutes; P < .001), longer door-to-needle times (172 minutes vs 144 minutes; P = .0016), and longer onset-to-puncture times (459 minutes vs 329 minutes; P < .001). The researchers also observed that patients with PCS had a lower rate of IVT (39.8% vs 50.4%; P < .001) and more frequently underwent general anesthesia (47.6% vs 10.6%; P < .001). 'This is a time-dependent treatment. Generally, we have four and a half hours to give these medications in a safe way,' said Rivillas. Administering medications outside that window entails a risk for intracranial hemorrhage. 'We have a small window of time where we can administer thrombolytics in a safe way.' If clinicians are not able to treat a stroke with IVT within the recommended period, then mechanical thrombectomy will likely be performed. This finding explains why general anesthesia is used more often in PCS management than in ACS management, said Rivillas. 'The PCS tends to require general anesthesia because the procedure is more complex.' Functional Outcomes Assessed This analysis found that the difference in the rate of modified Rankin Scale (mRS) of 0 at 90 days between patients with ACS and those with PCS (25.8% vs 20.1%) was not significant. Similarly, the difference in the rate of mRS of 1 at 90 days between patients with ACS and those with PCS (27.8% vs 25.3%) was not significant. Despite the similarities in the 3-month functional outcomes between the two groups of patients, Rivillas stressed that the data only captured part of the picture, since this follow-up 90-day analysis failed to capture the entire patient population. 'We don't know what happened with the other 50% of the patients,' said Rivillas. The investigators could not conclude that functional outcomes were the same at 90 days across arms because a lot of data were missing. Broad Education Needed 'Clinically, ischemic stroke due to a posterior circulation occlusion is more difficult to recognize and evaluate,' Michael D. Hill, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, told Medscape Medical News . 'Thus, delays in presentation (prehospital level) and delays in care (hospital level) are known to occur, and these data confirm and quantify those differences,' said Hill, who also is president of CNSF and did not participate in the study. A training initiative is therefore necessary, he said. 'The solution, then, is education for all manner of healthcare personnel (from the public to prehospital to in-hospital at all levels of training and expertise) so that stroke can be recognized.'
Toronto Star
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Amid upheaval abroad, universities urge Ottawa, Quebec to invest in attracting talent
MONTREAL - Four major Quebec universities are proposing initiatives to make the province a landing spot for high-level researchers. A joint statement released today highlights a number of moves, including co-ordinated steps at the national level to attract talent. The four universities — Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke — hope to leverage political and social tensions affecting researchers around the world to lure them to Canadian schools. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The group of universities, going by the name Polaris, say both Quebec and Ottawa have a role to play in making that happen. Vincent Poitout, vice-rector of research and innovation at Université de Montréal, says there is a window to transform a very unfortunate situation in science, particularly in the United States, into an opportunity for Canada. The universities note a recent survey published in Nature, a journal, that 75 per cent of researchers in the United States are considering leaving the country. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Amid upheaval abroad, universities urge Ottawa, Quebec to invest in attracting talent
MONTREAL - Four major Quebec universities are proposing initiatives to make the province a landing spot for high-level researchers. A joint statement released today highlights a number of moves, including co-ordinated steps at the national level to attract talent. The four universities — Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke — hope to leverage political and social tensions affecting researchers around the world to lure them to Canadian schools. The group of universities, going by the name Polaris, say both Quebec and Ottawa have a role to play in making that happen. Vincent Poitout, vice-rector of research and innovation at Université de Montréal, says there is a window to transform a very unfortunate situation in science, particularly in the United States, into an opportunity for Canada. The universities note a recent survey published in Nature, a journal, that 75 per cent of researchers in the United States are considering leaving the country. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Amid upheaval abroad, universities urge Ottawa, Quebec to invest in attracting talent
MONTREAL – Four major Quebec universities are proposing initiatives to make the province a landing spot for high-level researchers. A joint statement released today highlights a number of moves, including co-ordinated steps at the national level to attract talent. The four universities — Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke — hope to leverage political and social tensions affecting researchers around the world to lure them to Canadian schools. The group of universities, going by the name Polaris, say both Quebec and Ottawa have a role to play in making that happen. Vincent Poitout, vice-rector of research and innovation at Université de Montréal, says there is a window to transform a very unfortunate situation in science, particularly in the United States, into an opportunity for Canada. The universities note a recent survey published in Nature, a journal, that 75 per cent of researchers in the United States are considering leaving the country. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2025.
Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Cafley: New woman president at uOttawa is just a first step
For the first time in its 177-year history, the University of Ottawa has appointed a woman as president and vice-chancellor. Marie-Eve Sylvestre's historic appointment deserves celebration—loud, proud and unapologetic. It's a glass-ceiling shatter heard across campus, in lecture halls and around board tables across the country. Article content But as we mark this milestone, we can't afford to romanticize it. One 'first' doesn't make a trend. It doesn't guarantee change. And it doesn't mean the path ahead will be smooth. Article content Article content Article content Sylvestre is a formidable choice: educated at Université de Montréal and Harvard, with more than two decades steeped in the culture of academia. She knows this institution. She knows the terrain. But history tells us that knowing the terrain doesn't always protect women from the pitfalls of leadership. Article content The reality is stark. In Canada, women university presidents are more likely to leave before completing their terms than are their male counterparts. Over the past decade, of the university presidencies that ended prematurely, 60 per cent were held by women — despite women making up only 30 per cent of presidents overall. Within Canada's U15 — the country's most research-intensive institutions — only 13 per cent of presidents are women. Sylvestre's appointment will bring that number to 20 per cent. Article content And the trend extends far beyond our borders. Globally, only 16 per cent of university presidents are women. Even among the world's top 200 universities, less than one in four is led by a woman. That figure alone should give us pause. What message does that send to the next generation of scholars, researchers and changemakers? Article content Article content These patterns are not random; they follow a well-documented phenomenon known as the glass cliff. Women are more likely to be appointed to leadership roles during times of crisis, when success is harder to achieve and the risks of failure are high. It's a precarious path, and the fall, if it comes, is far more scrutinized. Article content Article content In their powerful memoir Nerve, trailblazing university presidents Martha Piper and Indira Samarasekera recount what it meant to be the first — and, to this day, the only — women to lead their respective institutions. Their experiences lay bare the double binds, the isolation and the relentless pressure to perform without faltering. As Piper wrote candidly: 'Being the first is not good enough.' Article content She's right. A historic appointment doesn't mean we've arrived; it means we've begun. The real work lies in creating the conditions where women leaders are not only appointed but supported, sustained and succeeded.
