Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialA randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial of tirilazad mesylate in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a cooperative study in North America.
To test the safety and efficacy of tirilazad mesylate, a nonglucocorticoid 21-aminosteroid, in improving the outcome of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), 902 patients were enrolled in a prospective randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial at 54 North American neurosurgical centers. Five patients were excluded prior to receiving any study drug. Of 897 patients who received at least one dose of study medication, 300 received a placebo containing a citrate vehicle, 298 received 2 mg/kg per day tirilazad, and 299 received 6 mg/kg per day tirilazad, all administered intravenously beginning within 48 hours of the SAH and continuing through 10 days posthemorrhage. ⋯ Tirilazad was well tolerated at both dose levels. Tirilazad mesylate at dosage levels of up to 6 mg/kg per day for 8 to 10 days following SAH did not improve the overall outcome in patients with aneurysmal SAH in this trial. The differences in the efficacy of tirilazad in this trial and a previously reported trial in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, in which dosage levels of tirilazad of 6 mg/kg per day reduced mortality rates and increased good recovery, may be a result of differences in admission characteristics of the patients and/or differences in management protocols, including the use of anticonvulsant medications.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 1997
Comparative StudyCerebral autoregulation following minor head injury.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with minor head injury experience impairments in cerebral autoregulation. Twenty-nine patients with minor head injuries defined by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores of 13 to 15 underwent testing of dynamic cerebral autoregulation within 48 hours of their injury using continuous transcranial Doppler velocity recordings and blood pressure recordings. Twenty-nine age-matched normal volunteers underwent autoregulation testing in the same manner to establish comparison values. ⋯ A significant correlation between lower blood pressure and worse autoregulation was found by regression analysis in head-injured patients (r = 0.6, p < 0.001); however, lower blood pressure did not account for the autoregulatory impairment in all patients. Within this group of head-injured patients there was no correlation between ARI and initial GCS or 1-month Glasgow Outcome Scale scores. This study indicates that a significant number of patients with minor head injury may have impaired cerebral autoregulation and may be at increased risk for secondary ischemic neuronal damage.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 1997
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialGuglielmi detachable coil embolization of acute intracranial aneurysm: perioperative anatomical and clinical outcome in 403 patients.
From December 1990 to July 1995, the investigators participated in a prospective clinical study to evaluate the safety of the Guglielmi detachable coil (GDC) system for the treatment of aneurysms. This report summarizes the perioperative results from eight initial interventional neuroradiology centers in the United States. The report focuses on 403 patients who presented with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage from a ruptured intracranial aneurysm. ⋯ Seven deaths were related to technical complications (1.74%) and 18 (4.47%) to the severity of the primary hemorrhage. The findings of this study demonstrate the safety of the GDC system for the treatment of ruptured intracranial aneurysms in anterior and posterior circulations. The authors believe additional randomized studies will further identify the role of this technique in the management of acutely ruptured incranial aneurysms.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 1997
Head injuries due to falls caused by seizures: a group at high risk for traumatic intracranial hematomas.
This prospective review of adult patients with head injuries examines the incidence of head injuries due to falls caused by seizures, the incidence and severity of intracranial hematomas, and the morbidity and mortality rates in this patient population. A head injury was attributed to a fall caused by a seizure if the seizure was witnessed to have caused the fall, or the patient had a known seizure history, appeared postictal or was found convulsing after the fall, and no other cause for the fall was evident. A total of 1760 adult head-injured patients were consecutively admitted to the authors' service between 1986 and 1993. ⋯ Despite the greater incidence of mass lesions and the need for operative treatment in patients injured because of seizures, their mortality rate was similar to that of patients injured in falls from other causes. On the basis of their review of patients admitted to a neurosurgical center with complaints of head injury, the authors conclude that patients with head injuries due to a fall caused by a seizure should undergo computerized tomography scanning early in their management. Until a mass lesion has been excluded, any decrease in level of consciousness or focal neurological deficit should not be attributed to the seizure itself.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 1997
The relationship of subarachnoid hemorrhage and the need for postoperative shunting.
The incidence of chronic hydrocephalus requiring shunting after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is not precisely known. The authors investigated whether the need for ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting can be predicted by initial Hunt and Hess grade or Fisher computerized tomography score. One hundred eight patients who presented with SAH and underwent 116 surgical procedures for aneurysm clipping were evaluated retrospectively to determine the incidence of chronic hydrocephalus. ⋯ There was a high clinical correlation between chronic hydrocephalus and admission Hunt and Hess grades and Fisher grades (p < 0.05). All of the patients who survived a second bleeding episode and almost 46% of the patients who presented with intraventricular hemorrhage required placement of a VP shunt. The authors present predictive tables of chronic hydrocephalus based on the patient's admission Hunt and Hess grade and Fisher classification.