Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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The scope and purpose of this work is 2-fold: to synthesize the available evidence and to translate it into recommendations. This document provides recommendations only when there is evidence to support them. As such, they do not constitute a complete protocol for clinical use. ⋯ We think it is important to have evidence-based recommendations to clarify what aspects of practice currently can and cannot be supported by evidence, to encourage use of evidence-based treatments that exist, and to encourage creativity in treatment and research in areas where evidence does not exist. The communities of neurosurgery and neuro-intensive care have been early pioneers and supporters of evidence-based medicine and plan to continue in this endeavor. The complete guideline document, which summarizes and evaluates the literature for each topic, and supplemental appendices (A-I) are available online at https://www.braintrauma.org/coma/guidelines.
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Brain injury : [BI] · Jan 2017
Longitudinal changes in diffusion tensor imaging parameters of the corpus callosum between 6 and 12 months after diffuse axonal injury.
Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) is used increasingly to detect diffuse axonal injury (DAI) after traumatic brain injury (TBI). ⋯ DTI parameters have not reached a stable level at 6 months after DAI, but continue to change, probably reflecting an incessant microstructural alteration of the white matter.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important public health concern plagued by high rates of mortality and significant long-term disability in many survivors. Post-traumatic seizures (PTS) are not uncommon following TBI, both in the early (within 7 days post-injury) and late (after 7 days post-injury) period. ⋯ Prophylactic antiepileptic drug (AED) administration has been proposed as a measure to reduce the incidence of PTS and the ultimate development of PTE in TBI patients. In this topical review, we discuss the pathophysiologic mechanisms of early and late PTS and the development of PTE following TBI, the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of AEDs commonly used to prevent post-traumatic seizures, and summarize the available clinical evidence for employing AEDs for seizure prophylaxis after TBI.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and functional outcome following mild traumatic brain injury.
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) results in variable clinical trajectories and outcomes. The source of variability remains unclear, but may involve genetic variations, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A SNP in catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) is suggested to influence development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but its role in TBI remains unclear. ⋯ PTSD emerged as a strong predictor of poorer outcome on GOSE (multivariable OR 0.09, 95% CI [0.03-0.26]), which persists after controlling for age, GCS, and race. When accounting for PTSD in multivariable analysis, the association of COMT genotype and GOSE did not remain significant (multivariable OR 1.73, 95% CI [0.69-4.35]). Whether COMT genotype indirectly influences global functional outcome through PTSD remains to be determined and larger studies in more diverse populations are needed to confirm these findings.
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Little is known about the critical care management of children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in low middle income countries. We aimed to identify indicators of intensive care unit (ICU) treatments associated with favorable outcomes in Argentine children with severe TBI. ⋯ There is variation in Argentine ICU practice in the care of children with severe TBI. Second insults are common and hyperosmolar therapy use is uncommon. Adherence to best practice TBI care by avoiding hypoxia and providing timely nutrition were associated with significantly favorable discharge outcomes. Implementing strategies that prevent hypoxia and facilitate early nutrition in the ICUs are urgently needed to improve pediatric TBI outcomes.