Articles: brain-injuries.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Aug 2000
ReviewEcological validity of neuropsychological assessment in childhood traumatic brain injury.
Empirical investigation of the degree to which testing predicts children's real-world functioning following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sparse. This article reviews the research in neuropsychology, which offers only moderate correlations between test scores and everyday functioning. ⋯ Ecologically valid assessment may require multiple data sources. More research is needed to respond effectively to questions about children's everyday functioning after traumatic brain injury.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Aug 2000
Cerebral metabolic response to traumatic brain injury sustained early in development: a 2-deoxy-D-glucose autoradiographic study.
Following fluid percussion (FP) traumatic brain injury (TBI), adult rats exhibit dynamic regional changes in cerebral glucose metabolism characterized by an acute (hours) increase and subsequent chronic (weeks) decrease in metabolic rates. The injury-induced hyperglycolysis is the result of ionic fluxes across cell membranes and the degree and extent of metabolic depression is predictive of neurobehavioral deficits. Given that younger animals appear to exhibit similar physiological responses to injury yet show an improved rate of recovery compared to adults, we wanted to determine if this injury-induced dynamic metabolic response to TBI is different if the injury is sustained early in life. ⋯ This hyperglycolytic state subsided within 30 min, and by 1 day all cerebral structures, except the ipsilateral cerebellar cortex, showed lower rates of glucose metabolism (ranging from 5.7% to 63.0% below controls). This period of posttraumatic metabolic depression resolved within 3 days for all structures measured. Compared to previous adult studies these results suggest that the young rat pup, although exhibiting acute hyperglycolysis, is not subjected to a prolonged period of metabolic depression, which supports the findings that at this level of injury severity, these young animals show remarkable neurological sparing following TBI.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2000
Case Reports Clinical TrialLow-dose prostacyclin in treatment of severe brain trauma evaluated with microdialysis and jugular bulb oxygen measurements.
The endogenous substance prostacyclin is a substance with the potential to improve microcirculation and oxygenation around contusions in the brain following a head trauma by its vasodilatory, antiaggregatory and antiadhesive effects. Microdialysis measurements of local concentrations of selected interstitial substances in the brain, and measurements of venous jugular bulb oxygenation reflecting overall brain oxygenation, might be useful to evaluate possible therapeutic effects of a specific therapy, such as treatment with prostacyclin. ⋯ The microdialysis data combined with the jugular bulb oxygenation data indicated that low-dose prostacyclin exerts effects compatible with improved oxygenation and reduced cell damage in the severely traumatised brain.
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The Journal of pediatrics · Aug 2000
Increases in bcl-2 protein in cerebrospinal fluid and evidence for programmed cell death in infants and children after severe traumatic brain injury.
To determine whether bcl-2, a protein that inhibits apoptosis, would be increased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in infants and children after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to examine the association of bcl-2 concentration with clinical variables. ⋯ Bcl-2 may participate in the regulation of cell death after TBI in infants and children. The increase in bcl-2 seen in patients who survived is consistent with a protective role for this anti-apoptotic protein after TBI.
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Brain injury : [BI] · Aug 2000
Comparative StudyFunctional outcome for African Americans and Hispanics treated at a traumatic brain injury model systems centre.
To describe the demographics, incidence and functional outcome for African Americans and Hispanics treated at a traumatic brain injury (TBI) model systems centre. ⋯ Unmarried African American males, with an average age of 35 years, predominated at this institution. The primary mechanism of injury was motor vehicle accidents. The majority of patients had, at least, a high school education or passed an equivalency exam, were employed at the time of their injury and were discharged to their prior private residence. While half of the patients met criteria for moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption, only one-third of the patients reported a history of pre-morbid illicit drug use. This descriptive analysis supports the need for further investigation of minority populations that sustain TBI and will enhance the accuracy of implications that minority status may have on functional outcome.