Neurocritical care
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Although evaluation of disorders of consciousness (DoC) following brain injury has traditionally relied on bedside behavioral examination, advances in neurotechnology have elucidated novel approaches to detecting and predicting recovery of consciousness. Professional society guidelines now recommend that clinicians integrate these neurotechnologies into clinical practice as part of multimodal evaluations for some patients with DoC but have not crafted concrete protocols for this translation. Little is known about the experiences and ethical perspectives held by key stakeholder groups around the clinical implementation of advanced neurotechnologies to detect and predict recovery of consciousness. ⋯ Ethical themes of prognostic uncertainty, nihilism, and access also permeated multiple domains. Considerations surrounding access, knowledge base, results interpretation, and communication with surrogates are cross-cutting ethical threads shaping the clinical translation of advanced neurotechnologies for DoC. These components represent opportunities for implementation science work focused on democratizing access to neurotechnologies, educating clinicians on the use of novel techniques and interpretation of results, conducting multisite validation studies, and standardizing approaches to communicating test results.
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Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to transient changes in autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning and development of paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) syndrome. Clinical manifestation of ANS disorders may be obscured by therapeutic interventions in TBI. This study aims to analyze ANS metrics and cerebral autoregulation in patients with PSH syndrome to determine their significance in early prognostication. ⋯ Elevated HRV in the LF and decreased HR may serve as early predictors of PSH syndrome development, particularly in patients with diffuse axonal trauma. Further research is needed to investigate the utility of the cerebral autoregulation-ANS relationship in PSH prognostication.
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Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) frequently triggers systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). SIRS has been associated with inferior outcomes and, specifically, delayed cerebral infarction after aneurysmal SAH. Here, we assess the impact of intracranial blood clearance through stereotactic catheter ventriculocisternostomy on SIRS in patients with aneurysmal SAH. ⋯ Intracranial blood clearance and cisternal lavage after aneurysmal SAH is associated with a decline in SIRS prevalence and severity.
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Management of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is challenged by limited therapeutic options and a complex relationship between blood pressure (BP) dynamics, especially BP variability (BPV) and ICH outcome. ⋯ This study shows the prognostic value of BPV in the acute phase of ICH. Lower systolic BPV (SD) and higher diastolic BPV (SD, SV) were associated with better functional outcomes, challenging traditional BP management strategies. These findings might help to tailor a personalized BP management in ICH.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is widely recognized as a major cause of death and disability. Optimizing recovery from coma is a priority for improving patient prognosis. Recently, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that median nerve electrical stimulation (MNES) may be a potential approach for comatose patients awakening with TBI, although the results of these studies are not consistent. ⋯ Furthermore, no significant differences in complications between the two groups of patients were observed, including pneumonitis (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.72-1.03; P = 0.107), seizures (RR 1.24, 95% CI 0.49-3.10; P = 0.651), or gastric hemorrhage (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.60-1.93; P = 0.795). The results of the present study indicate that patients with TBI in the MNES group recovered from coma more rapidly after treatment and at 6 months after injury. These results suggest that MNES is an effective approach for coma awakening after TBI.