Neurocritical care
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To evaluate the safety and efficiency of a protocol for glycemic control in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with neurovascular or head injury. ⋯ The intravenous insulin infusion protocol improved the safety and efficiency of glycemic control for ICU patients with neurovascular or head injury.
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Crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD) has been reported on positron-emission tomography and single-photon emission computed tomography of stroke patients. Rarely it has been described with brain diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) of status epilepticus (SE). ⋯ This case documents CCD during SE, providing further evidence of contralateral cerebellar involvement with a supratentorial epileptiform focus.
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Diagnosing brain death in children is challenging. Guidelines recommend using confirmatory testing to provide ancillary information to support the diagnosis. Brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO(2)) is being increasingly used in the adult neurocritical care for continuous monitoring of the adequacy of brain oxygenation; however, data in pediatrics is limited. Evidence from adult studies suggests that persistent PbtO(2) of 0 mmHg is associated with brain death, but this relationship has not yet been demonstrated in children; therefore, we examined our experience with PbtO(2) monitoring and brain death in children with acute neurological pathology. ⋯ Preliminary data from this study suggest that PbtO(2) decreases to 0 mmHg when brain death occurs in children. Further study is needed to determine the limitations, and the sensitivity and specificity of this finding in a larger group of children.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Phenylephrine but not ephedrine reduces frontal lobe oxygenation following anesthesia-induced hypotension.
Vasopressor agents are used to correct anesthesia-induced hypotension. We describe the effect of phenylephrine and ephedrine on frontal lobe oxygenation (S(c)O(2)) following anesthesia-induced hypotension. ⋯ The utilization of phenylephrine to correct hypotension induced by anesthesia has a negative impact on S(c)O(2) while ephedrine maintains frontal lobe oxygenation potentially related to an increase in CO.