Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and a subsequent neuroinflammatory process. We aimed to perform a multiplex screening of brain enriched and inflammatory proteins in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in order to study their role in BBB disruption, neuroinflammation and long-term functional outcome in TBI patients and healthy controls. ⋯ This represents the largest concomitant CSF and serum proteomic profiling study so far reported in TBI, providing substantial support to the notion that neuroinflammatory markers, including complement activation, predicts BBB disruption and long-term outcome. Individual proteins identified here could potentially serve to refine current biomarker modelling or represent novel treatment targets in severe TBI.
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We conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA protocol primarily to identify publications that assessed any links between mechanical ventilation (MV) and either cognitive impairment or brain insult, independent of underlying medical conditions. Secondary objectives were to identify possible gaps in the literature that can be used to inform future studies and move toward a better understanding of this complex problem. ⋯ The clinical literature suggests an association between MV and delirium, and that delirium in mechanically ventilated patients may be associated with greater likelihood of long-term cognitive impairment; our systematic review found no clinical study that demonstrated a causal link between MV, cognitive dysfunction, and brain insult. More studies should be designed to investigate ventilation-induced brain injury pathways as well as any causative linkage between MV, cognitive impairment, and brain insult.