Articles: brain-injuries.
-
Journal of neurochemistry · Sep 1991
Comparative StudyGlucocorticoids regulate the synthesis of glial fibrillary acidic protein in intact and adrenalectomized rats but do not affect its expression following brain injury.
Short (5 days)- to long-term (4 months) corticosterone (CORT) administration by injection, pellet implantation, or in the drinking water decreased glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) by 20-40% in hippocampus and cortex of intact rats. In contrast to CORT, adrenalectomy (ADX) caused elevations (50-125%) in hippocampus and cortex GFAP within 12 days of surgery that persisted for at least 4 months. CORT replacement of ADX rats decreased GFAP amount in hippocampus and cortex. ⋯ Thus, glucocorticoids and injury appear to regulate the expression of GFAP through different mechanisms. In contrast to the lack of effects of CORT on brain damage-induced increases in GFAP, CORT treatment begun in 2-week ADX rats, after an increase in GFAP had time to occur, did reverse the ADX-induced increase in GFAP. These results suggest that the increase in GFAP resulting from ADX is not mediated through an injury-linked mechanism.
-
Am J Phys Med Rehabil · Aug 1991
Case ReportsDelayed presentation of a carotid-cavernous sinus fistula in a patient with traumatic brain injury.
Carotid-cavernous sinus fistulas are rare complications of traumatic brain injury, facial trauma and postorthognathic surgery. A high level of clinical suspicion is necessary, particularly for patients who are unable to communicate, to establish the diagnosis. A case of delayed presentation of a carotid-cavernous sinus fistula after traumatic brain injury is presented. This case illustrates that early recognition of this disorder is crucial to prevent significant morbidity.
-
The normal verbal and motor responses embodied in the standard Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) are not achievable during the first few years of life. The recent literature contains numerous reports of attempts to devise scales of responses quantitating the conscious level in infants and young children, both for research purposes and as clinical guides; some of these scales incorporate items, e.g. brainstem reflexes, that are not included in the GCS. We have reported on a simple paediatric version of the GCS, which uses the standard scale with minor modifications in the verbal component, and sets realistic age-related normal responses. ⋯ Of 35 cases considered to be fully conscious at 6 h, 31 have made good recoveries and only 1 has suspected residual disabilities. The study suggests that the scale accords with the realities of neurological immaturity, and confirms that it can be used in routine paediatric practice. For comparative therapeutic trials, the conscious level in infants has limited value as an index of brain injury, and should be complemented by other indices, such as brainstem reflexes.
-
The article discusses the total results of multifactorial analysis of observations over 16,000 children with isolated and more than 400 with combined craniocerebral trauma (CCT) in the light of the peculiarities of the child age and the current trends in studying the problem in the Soviet Union and other countries. From these standpoints, the author first gives a clinicomorphological characterization of CCT types in children, deals with the methods and prospects of objectivication of the evaluation of the severity of isolated and combined CCT, extracranial local injuries in polytrauma, totally determining the severity of the general condition and the efficacy and prognosis of the diagnostic and therapeutic measures. Original methods for quantitative evaluation of the degree of severity of the trauma, which were developed in the clinic, are described. ⋯ For this purpose, the author uses conventional designations for the main gradients of the pathophysiological reactions of the child's organism depending on the location and severity of the concrete damages and the general condition, making a coded recording of the diagnosis possible, which makes easier the sorting out and registration of the patients and orientation as regards the order in which aid should be given and the volume of the therapeutic and diagnostic programs with the use of computers. The patients were subjected to general clinical examination and laboratory tests, as well as special methods of examination (radiography, ultrasonic study, angiography, circulography, computed tomography, etc.). Importance was attached to the results of histological study and the reports of the forensic medical examination committee.
-
Immediate management of severe head injuries still poses a serious challenge. 50 patients with severe head injuries (Glasgow Coma Scale, 8 or less) were treated from February 1, 1989 to April 30, 1990. The effects of age, Glasgow Coma Score at admission, CT findings, pupillary reactivity to light and intracranial pressure on outcome, were evaluated. ⋯ We attribute the high incidence of good outcome to the direct referral of the severe head injury patients, thus excluding delays at peripheral hospitals. In addition, aggressive management in the intensive care units and a broader range of indications for operation were also correlated with favorable outcome.