Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2010
Minozac treatment prevents increased seizure susceptibility in a mouse "two-hit" model of closed skull traumatic brain injury and electroconvulsive shock-induced seizures.
The mechanisms linking traumatic brain injury (TBI) to post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) are not known and no therapy for prevention of PTE is available. We used a mouse closed-skull midline impact model to test the hypotheses that TBI increases susceptibility to seizures in a "two-hit" injury model, and that suppression of cytokine upregulation after the first hit will attenuate the increased susceptibility to the second neurological insult. Adult male CD-1 mice underwent midline closed skull pneumatic impact. ⋯ Astrocyte activation, metallothionein expression, and neurobehavioral impairment were also increased in the two-hit group subjected to combined TBI and ECS. These enhanced responses in the two-hit group were also prevented by suppression of proinflammatory cytokine upregulation with Mzc. These data implicate glial activation in the mechanisms of epileptogenesis after TBI, and identify a potential therapeutic approach to attenuate the delayed neurological sequelae of TBI.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2010
Review Case Reports Historical Article150 years of treating severe traumatic brain injury: a systematic review of progress in mortality.
Considerable effort and resources have been devoted to preserving life in patients with severe closed traumatic brain injury (TBI). We sought to identify temporal trends in mortality rates of these patients from the late 1800s to the present. We searched the literature for articles on severe TBI, abstracting numbers of patients studied, numbers of deaths, and years of patient entry. ⋯ Both changes are significant. There was no observed improvement in mortality between 1930 and 1970, nor is progress evident since 1990. The authors discuss possible reasons for the apparently intermittent progress in TBI survival over time.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2010
Comparative StudyObserved versus predicted outcome for decompressive craniectomy: a population-based study.
A number of studies have shown that decompressive craniectomy can reduce intracranial pressure and may improve outcome for patients with severe head injury. This cohort study assessed the long-term outcome of neurotrauma patients who had a decompressive craniectomy for severe head injury in Western Australia between 2004 and 2008. The web-based outcome prediction model developed by the CRASH trial collaborators was applied to the cohort. ⋯ The functional outcome after either unilateral or bilateral decompressive craniectomy was significantly better than that predicted by the CRASH head injury prediction model when the predicted risk was less than 80%. This study has demonstrated that in Western Australia decompressive craniectomy is a relatively common surgical procedure for the management of neurotrauma. A significant proportion of patients had a better-than-predicted long-term functional outcome.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2010
Inappropriate prehospital ventilation in severe traumatic brain injury increases in-hospital mortality.
In the setting of acute brainstem herniation in traumatic brain injury (TBI), the use of hyperventilation to reduce intracranial pressure may be life-saving. However, undue use of hyperventilation is thought to increase the incidence of secondary brain injury through direct reduction of cerebral blood flow. This is a retrospective review determining the effect of prehospital hyperventilation on in-hospital mortality following severe TBI. ⋯ Although there are many reports of the negative impact of prophylactic hyperventilation following severe TBI, this modality is frequently utilized in the prehospital setting. Our results suggest that abnormal Pco(2) on presentation after severe head trauma is correlated with increased in-hospital mortality. We advocate normoventilation in the prehospital setting.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2010
Comparative StudyIndices of impaired self-awareness in traumatic brain injury patients with focal frontal lesions and executive deficits: implications for outcome measurement.
In patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), impairments of self-awareness are frequently found and associated with worse functional outcome and poor compliance with rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether indications of impaired self-awareness could be found in TBI patients with frontal lesions and executive function deficits. Twenty-two TBI patients with focal frontal injuries were compared to 29 TBI patients without focal frontal injuries visible on neuroimaging. ⋯ In contrast to the non-frontal-injury group, their PoR scores were not related to RTW, reflecting an erroneous perception of their actual working status. The positive results on these different outcome measures, which are partly or entirely self-reported, were seen as an indication of an impaired self-evaluative ability in the frontal injury patients. To determine outcome in a patient with frontal injuries and executive dysfunction, the judgment of several relevant other persons in the patient's life (e.g., partners, therapists, and employers) of the patient's daily life functioning should be sought.