Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
Blast-induced biomechanical loading of the rat: an experimental and anatomically accurate computational blast injury model.
Blast waves generated by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) cause traumatic brain injury (TBI) in soldiers and civilians. In vivo animal models that use shock tubes are extensively used in laboratories to simulate field conditions, to identify mechanisms of injury, and to develop injury thresholds. In this article, we place rats in different locations along the length of the shock tube (i.e., inside, outside, and near the exit), to examine the role of animal placement location (APL) in the biomechanical load experienced by the animal. ⋯ Noticeably, surface and intracranial pressure increases linearly with the incident peak overpressures, though surface pressures are significantly higher than the other two. Further, we developed and validated an anatomically accurate finite element model of the rat head. With this model, we determined that the main pathway of pressure transmission to the brain was through the skull and not through the snout; however, the snout plays a secondary role in diffracting the incoming blast wave towards the skull.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
The use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the subacute evaluation of athletes recovering from single and multiple mild traumatic brain injury.
Advanced neuroimaging techniques have shown promise in highlighting the subtle changes and nuances in mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) even though clinical assessment has shown a return to pre-injury levels. Here we use ¹H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) to evaluate the brain metabolites N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), and creatine (Cr) in the corpus callosum in MTBI. Specifically, we looked at the NAA/Cho, NAA/Cr, and Cho/Cr ratios in the genu and splenium. ⋯ Time since injury to ¹H-MRS acquisition was based upon symptom resolution and did not turn out to be a significant factor. We observed that as the number of MTBIs increased, so did the length of time for symptom resolution. Unexpected findings from this study are that MTBI subjects showed a trend of increasing NAA/Cho and NAA/Cr ratios that coincided with increasing number of MTBIs.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
The application of operations research methodologies to the delivery of care model for traumatic spinal cord injury: the access to care and timing project.
The long-term impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on the health care system imposes a need for greater efficiency in the use of resources and the management of care. The Access to Care and Timing (ACT) project was developed to model the health care delivery system in Canada for patients with traumatic SCI. Techniques from Operations Research, such as simulation modeling, were used to predict the impact of best practices and policy initiatives on outcomes related to both the system and patients. ⋯ This article describes specifically the methodology and implications of producing such simulations for the care of traumatic SCI in Canada. Future publications will report on specific practices pertaining to the access to specialized services and the timing of interventions evaluated using the ACT model. Results from this type of research will provide the evidence required to support clinical decision making, inform standards of care, and provide an opportunity to engage policymakers.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
Assessment of relative brain-skull motion in quasistatic circumstances by magnetic resonance imaging.
Brain-skull relative motion plays a pivotal role in the etiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The present study aims to assess brain-skull relative motion in quasistatic circumstances, and to correlate cortical regions with high motion amplitudes with sites prone to cerebral contusions. The study includes 30 healthy volunteers scanned using a clinical 3-T MR scanner in four different head positions. ⋯ The 3D cortical deviations varied from -7.86 mm to +5.71 mm for the sagittal head movement, and from -11.46 mm to +7.30 mm for head movement in the coronal plane, for a 95% confidence interval. The present study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanopathogenesis of frontotemporal contusions, and is useful for the optimization of finite-element head models and neurosurgical navigation procedures. Moreover, our results prove that in vivo MRI allows for accurate assessment of brain-skull relative motion in quasistatic conditions.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
Lithium reduces BACE1 overexpression, β amyloid accumulation, and spatial learning deficits in mice with traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to both acute injury and long-term neurodegeneration, and is a major risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Beta amyloid (Aβ) peptide deposits in the brain are one of the pathological hallmarks of AD. Aβ levels increase after TBI in animal models and in patients with head trauma, and reducing Aβ levels after TBI has beneficial effects. ⋯ Notably, lithium treatment significantly improved spatial learning and memory in the Y-maze test conducted 10 days after TBI, and in the Morris water maze test performed 17-20 days post-TBI, in association with increased hippocampal preservation. Thus post-insult treatment with lithium appears to alleviate the TBI-induced Aβ load and consequently improves spatial memory. Our findings suggest that lithium is a potentially useful agent for managing memory impairments after TBI or other head trauma.