Neurocritical care
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage (ATACH) II: design, methods, and rationale.
The December 2003 report from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Workshop on priorities for clinical research in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) recommended clinical trials for evaluation of blood pressure management in acute ICH as a leading priority. The Special Writing Group of the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association in 1999 and 2007 emphasized the need for clinical trials to ensure evidence-based treatment of acute hypertensive response in ICH. To address important gaps in knowledge, we conducted a pilot study funded by the NINDS, Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage (ATACH) I Trial, during 2004-2008 to determine the appropriate level of systolic blood pressure (SBP) reduction. ⋯ The Australian trial provided preliminary evidence of attenuation of hematoma expansion with intensive SBP reduction. The ATACH II trial will have important public health implications by providing evidence of, or lack thereof, regarding the efficacy and safety of acute antihypertensive treatment in subjects with ICH. This treatment represents a strategy that can be made widely available without the need for specialized equipment and personnel, and therefore, can make a major impact upon clinical practice for treating patients with ICH.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Comparison of the Full Outline of UnResponsiveness and Glasgow Liege Scale/Glasgow Coma Scale in an intensive care unit population.
The Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) has been proposed as an alternative for the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)/Glasgow Liège Scale (GLS) in the evaluation of consciousness in severely brain-damaged patients. We compared the FOUR and GLS/GCS in intensive care unit patients who were admitted in a comatose state. ⋯ The FOUR score is a valid tool with good inter-rater reliability that is comparable to the GLS/GCS in predicting outcome. It offers the advantage to be performable in intubated patients and to identify non-verbal signs of consciousness by assessing visual pursuit, and hence minimal signs of consciousness (11% in this study), not assessed by GLS/GCS scales.
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Low pressure hydrocephalus (LPH) is an uncommon entity. Recognition of this treatable condition is important when clinicians are faced with the paradox of symptomatic hydrocephalus despite low intracranial pressures (ICP). Its etiology remains enigmatic. ⋯ Low pressure hydrocephalus is a challenging diagnosis. The genesis of LPH was associated with a drop in EVD output, symptomatic ventriculomegaly, and a remarkable absence of intracranial hypertension. When LPH was treated with the sub-zero method, a 'diuresis' of CSF ensued. These observations support a Darcy's flux of brain interstitial fluid due to altered brain poroelastance; in simpler terms, a boggy brain state.
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Neurocritical illness heavily burdens the developing world. In spite of a lack of resources for population-based health in most developing countries, there is an increasing demand for resource-intense strategies for acute neurological care. ⋯ Possible steps to improve the global practice of neurocritical care include: (1) emphasis on prevention of neurocritical illness through traffic safety and adequate outpatient treatment; (2) standardization of training requirements and skill sets; (3) guidelines on cost-effective measures including medications, equipment, and devices; (4) strengthening of surveillance systems and registries for both noncommunicable and communicable neurological diseases; (5) expanded use of teleneurology; (6) educational exchanges of neurointensive health care workers; and (7) monitoring of neurological intensive care unit death rates due to nosocomial infections, neurological disease, and other causes. A summary of reported mortality rates among neurocritically ill patients in African countries in recent years is provided as an illustrative example.
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Multicenter Study
Poor correlation between perihematomal MRI hyperintensity and brain swelling after intracerebral hemorrhage.
The perihematomal hyperintensity (PHH) is commonly interpreted to represent cerebral edema following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), but the accuracy of this interpretation is unknown. We therefore investigated the relationship between the changes in PHH and the changes in hemispheric brain volume as a measure of edema during the first week after ICH. ⋯ In patients with small-to-moderate-sized hematomas, change in PHH was a poor measure of brain edema in the first week following ICH. A small degree of bihemispheric brain swelling occurred, but was of little clinical significance.