Neurocritical care
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of Phenylephrine and Ephedrine on Cerebral (Tissue) Oxygen Saturation During Carotid Endarterectomy (PEPPER): A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Short-acting vasopressor agents like phenylephrine or ephedrine can be used during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to achieve adequate blood pressure (BP) to prevent periprocedural stroke by preserving the cerebral perfusion. Previous studies in healthy subjects showed that these vasopressors also affected the frontal lobe cerebral tissue oxygenation (rSO2) with a decrease after administration of phenylephrine. This decrease is unwarranted in patients with jeopardized cerebral perfusion, like CEA patients. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of both phenylephrine and ephedrine on the rSO2 during CEA. ⋯ Within this randomized prospective study, MAP correction by either phenylephrine or ephedrine showed to be equally effective in maintaining rSO2 in patients who underwent CEA. Clinical Trial Registration ClincalTrials.gov, NCT01451294.
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Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) has been implicated to be associated with poor outcome in ischemic stroke patients, yet its role in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients is unknown. The current study aimed to investigate the on-admission and short-term variation trend of ALP levels in aSAH patients as well as its associations with vasospasm, delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), and outcome after aSAH. ⋯ Elevated serum ALP level is associated with vasospasm, DCI-caused clinical deterioration, and functional outcome after aSAH. Further studies are required to examine the potential role of serum ALP as an outcome predictor for aSAH patients.
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Spinal procedures such as lumbar punctures (LPs), epidurals, and spinal blocks are essential components to clinical practice but are challenging to teach, learn, or practice on real patients due to patient safety and comfort limiting the number of attempts. Resident physicians traditionally learn these spinal procedural skills through observation of a more senior physician before attempting the procedure. Simulation using models can improve providers' competency without introducing an added risk to patients. A difficulty encountered with access to simulation training for such procedures is the limited availability of simulators. While there are several high-quality, commercially available models that mimic the anatomy of lumbar spine, the cost of these models often limits the access to students and practitioners. The other challenge is access to simulators with versatility that can be used for palpation as well as ultrasound (US)-guided procedures. A simulator that can combine practice of both palpation and US-guided modalities would be efficacious in reducing cost to the teaching institutions. We attempted to overcome the access barrier to spinal models by developing an alternative that provides a good simulator for both palpation and US-guided LP while keeping the cost low. Our model can be easily manufactured by not only clinicians but also medical students. ⋯ An inexpensive reusable non-commercial LP simulator can be an effective method for teaching invasive procedures like LPs, especially if it can be used both for palpation and US-guided procedures. The method outlined here can be easily reproduced in a relatively short amount of time. We recognize one limitation in the widespread dissemination of this technique being access to a 3D printer and digital designs for printing. Future studies will be necessary to determine the efficacy of the homemade LP simulator in teaching neurointensivist in training.
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This article was updated to correct the spelling of Karl Georg Haeusler.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Prostacyclin Affects the Relation Between Brain Interstitial Glycerol and Cerebrovascular Pressure Reactivity in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.
Cerebral injury may alter the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow. One index for describing cerebrovascular state is the pressure reactivity (PR). Little is known of whether PR is associated with measures of brain metabolism and indicators of ischemia and cell damage. The aim of this investigation was to explore whether increased interstitial levels of glycerol, a marker of cell membrane damage, are associated with PR, and if prostacyclin, a membrane stabilizer and regulator of the microcirculation, may affect this association in a beneficial way. ⋯ PR is correlated to the glycerol level in patients suffering from sTBI, a relationship that is not seen in the group treated with prostacyclin. Glycerol has been associated with membrane degradation and may support glycerol as a biomarker for vascular endothelial breakdown. Such a breakdown may impair the regulation of cerebrovascular PR.