Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Experimental neurology · Feb 2015
Neural progenitor cell transplantation promotes neuroprotection, enhances hippocampal neurogenesis, and improves cognitive outcomes after traumatic brain injury.
Transplantation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) may be a potential treatment strategy for traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to their intrinsic advantages, including the secretion of neurotrophins. Neurotrophins are critical for neuronal survival and repair, but their clinical use is limited. In this study, we hypothesized that pericontusional transplantation of NPCs genetically modified to secrete a synthetic, human multineurotrophin (MNTS1) would overcome some of the limitations of traditional neurotrophin therapy. ⋯ Transplant recipients exhibited escape latencies approximately half that of injured vehicle controls. While we observed greater transplant survival and neuronal differentiation of MNTS1-NPCs, our collective findings suggest that MNTS1 may be superfluous in terms of preserving the cytoarchitecture and rescuing behavioral deficits given the lack of significant difference between MNTS1- and GFP-control transplanted groups. Nevertheless, our overall findings support the potential of syngeneic NPC transplantation to enhance endogenous neuroreparative responses and may therefore be an effective treatment for TBI.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a complex neurological traumatic incident where brain function is disrupted due to physical trauma, can be categorized in multiple ways and is commonly scored using the Glasgow Coma Scale. Severe closed head injury is a form of TBI with a Glasgow Coma Scale less than 8. The outcomes and prognosis are not uniform in the population but mortality is estimated at 30-50 percent. In this case of severe closed head injury, the patient was able to make a near full recovery after several neurosurgery and medical treatments and intercessory prayer to Saint Luigi Guanella. ⋯ Head injuries vary in severity and traumatic brain injuries can be extremely serious leading to bleeding, loss of consciousness, and can affect verbal responses, muscles movement in motor responses, and responses with eye movement. Traumatic brain injuries require medical care to assess the severity and treat the injury. In this case report, we discuss a patient's very severe closed head injury while rollerblading without a helmet from which he was not expected to make a full recovery, but did so following intensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, and intercessory prayer to Saint Don Guanella to combat the initial injury and subsequent issues.
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J Intensive Care Med · Feb 2015
Comparative StudyBrain injury as a risk factor for fever upon admission to the intensive care unit and association with in-hospital case fatality: a matched cohort study.
To test the hypothesis that fever was more frequent in critically ill patients with brain injury when compared to nonneurological patients and to study its effect on in-hospital case fatality. ⋯ These data suggest that fever is a frequent occurrence after brain injury, and that it is independently associated with in-hospital case fatality.
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Expert Rev Neurother · Feb 2015
ReviewFurther understanding of cerebral autoregulation at the bedside: possible implications for future therapy.
Cerebral autoregulation reflects the ability of the brain to keep the cerebral blood flow (CBF) relatively constant despite changes in cerebral perfusion pressure. It is an intrinsic neuroprotective physiological phenomenon often suggested as part of pathophysiological pathways in brain research. ⋯ In this article, we attempt to answer this question by demonstrating how cerebral autoregulation assessment can have prognostic value, indicate pathological states, and potentially even influence therapy with the use of the 'optimal cerebral perfusion pressure' paradigm. Evidence from the literature is combined with bedside clinical examples to address the following fundamental questions about cerebral autoregulation: What is it? How do we measure it? Why is it important? Can we use it as a basis for therapy?
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Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is a life-saving measure for traumatic brain injury (TBI), but acute seizures following this procedure may have a devastating effect. We aim to investigate the clinical characteristics of acute post-craniectomy seizures. ⋯ Acute seizures occur mostly within the first 3 days following DC. Neurological outcome and mortality rate at discharge does not differ between patients with or without seizures, but the duration of hospital stay is significantly longer for acute seizure patients.