No shinkei geka. Neurological surgery
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Radiographical investigations of the hypothalamus by computerized tomography (CT) have rarely been performed despite the fact that the damage to the hypothalamus owing to serious intracranial organic diseases may cause neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE). We presented 22 consecutive cases of patients suffering from NPE caused by serious intracranial organic diseases and investigated the relationship between NPE and abnormal radiographical findings of the hypothalamus. ⋯ In general, various factors including systemic ones are considered to contribute to the prognosis of the patients suffering NPEs caused by serious intracranial diseases. It was concluded that hypothalamic damage was not always found by radiograph in patients with NPE due to critical intracranial diseases, but once abnormal findings in their hypothalamus of these patients were noted, their prognosis would become significantly poor (p < 0.05).
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical manifestations and prognostic factors of progressive brain injury following trauma. We reviewed the records of 779 patients with head injury who had an admission Glasgow Coma Scale of 9 or more; 70 (7.0%) developed progressive brain injury as evidenced on serial CT scans. Of these 70 patients, 19 (27.1%) had a subdural hematoma, 19 (27.1%) an epidural hematoma, 16 (22.9%) a cerebral contusion, 13 (18.6%) an intracerebral hematoma, and 3 (4.3%) a diffuse brain swelling. ⋯ Patients with the extracerebral lesions deteriorated 4 hours after injury, whereas those with intracerebral lesions deteriorated 8 hours after injury. The outcome based on Glasgow Outcome Scale was significantly associated with age, type of intracranial lesion, Glasgow Coma Scale following deterioration, the mechanism of injury and surgical treatment. It is concluded that early repeated CT scan is indicated in patients with risk factors of developing progressive brain injury.