Neurocritical care
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Review
Intraventricular fibrinolysis for intracerebral hemorrhage with severe ventricular involvement.
Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) has been associated with poor prognosis in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. Several factors contribute to the deleterious effects of IVH, including direct mass effects of the ventricular blood clot on ependymal and subependymal brain structures, mechanical and inflammatory impairment of the Pacchioni granulations by blood and its breakdown products, and disturbance of physiological cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation. Acute obstructive hydrocephalus represents a major life-threatening complication of IVH and is usually treated with an external ventricular drainage (EVD). ⋯ Unfortunately, there is no prospective, randomized controlled trial addressing the effect of IVF on clinical outcome. The available data on IVF consist of small retrospective case series, case reports, and a few prospective case-control studies, which are the subject of the present review article. All these studies, when considered in their entirety, suggest that IVF has a positive impact on mortality and functional outcome, and could be considered as a treatment option for selected patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Safety and tolerability of high-intensity anticoagulation with bivalirudin during neuroendovascular procedures.
Bivalirudin (Angiomax) is a direct thrombin inhibitor used in interventional cardiology due to its several distinct advantages over heparin, most notably a shorter half-life and a potentially superior safety profile. Bivalirudin is also safe to use in patients with active or remote heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Our objective was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of high-intensity anticoagulation using bivalirudin during neuroendovascular procedures. ⋯ Our data supports that bivalirudin usage is likely a safe alternative to heparin for high-intensity anticoagulation in neuroendovascular procedures. Further studies are required for more definitive comparisons for efficacy and cost-effectiveness between the two agents.
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Multicenter Study
Prognostic factors of spinal cord decompression sickness in recreational diving: retrospective and multicentric analysis of 279 cases.
This study aims to determine the potential risk factors associated with the development of severe diving-related spinal cord decompression sickness (DCS). ⋯ Clinical symptoms of spinal cord DCS and their initial course before admission to the hyperbaric center should be considered as major prognostic factors in recovery. A new severity score is proposed to optimize the initial clinical evaluation for spinal cord DCS.
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Multicenter Study
Intracranial hemorrhage following neuroendovascular procedures with abciximab is associated with high mortality: a multicenter series.
Abciximab is being used as an adjunct to neuroendovascular procedures both to prevent and treat ischemic sequelae. Experience with abciximab in this setting is limited; major bleeding complications, including fatal intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), are of particular concern. We report our multicenter experience with ICH following the administration of abciximab during neuroendovascular procedures. ⋯ Adjunctive use of abciximab to prevent or treat ischemic sequelae during neuroendovascular procedures is associated with a high risk of ICH (18%). We report 9 cases of ICH associated with abciximab administration during neuroendovascular procedures with 44% mortality.
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Intracranial pressure (ICP) remains a pivotal physiological signal for managing brain injury and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients in neurocritical care units. Given the vascular origin of the ICP, changes in ICP waveform morphology could be used to infer cerebrovascular changes. Clinical validation of this association in the setting of brain trauma, and SAH is challenging due to the multi-factorial influences on, and uncertainty of, the state of the cerebral vasculature. ⋯ Since the dilation/constriction of the cerebral vasculature resulted in detectable consistent changes in ICP MOCIAP metrics, by an extended monitoring practice of ICP that includes characterizing ICP pulse morphology, one can potentially detect cerebrovascular changes, continuously, for patients under neurocritical care.