Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 2017
ReviewNatural compounds as a therapeutic intervention following traumatic brain injury: the role of phytochemicals.
There has been a tremendous focus on the discovery and development of neuroprotective agents that might have clinical relevance following traumatic brain injury (TBI). This type of brain injury is very complex and is divided into two major components. The first component, a primary injury, occurs at the time of impact and is the result of the mechanical insult itself. ⋯ Here, we review 33 different plant-derived natural compounds, phytochemicals, which have been investigated in experimental animal models of TBI. Some of these phytochemicals appear to have potential as possible therapeutic interventions to offset key components of the secondary injury cascade. However, not all studies have used the same scientific rigor, and one should be cautious in the interpretation of studies using naturally occurring phytochemical in TBI research.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 2017
Selective Brain Hypothermia mitigates brain damage and improves neurological outcome after posttraumatic decompressive craniectomy in mice.
Hypothermia and decompressive craniectomy (DC) have been considered as treatment for traumatic brain injury. The present study investigates whether selective brain hypothermia added to craniectomy could improve neurological outcome after brain trauma. Male CD-1 mice were assigned into the following groups: sham; DC; closed head injury (CHI); CHI followed by craniectomy (CHI+DC); and CHI+DC followed by focal hypothermia (CHI+DC+H). ⋯ Histopathological analysis showed that neuronal loss and contusional blossoming could be attenuated by application of selective brain hypothermia. Selective brain cooling applied post-trauma and craniectomy improved neurological function and reduced structural damage and may be therefore an alternative to complication-burdened systemic hypothermia. Clinical studies are recommended in order to explore the potential of this treatment.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 2017
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Longitudinal study of cognition, functional status, and post-traumatic symptoms.
More than 75% of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) seeking medical attention are mild, and outcome in that group is heterogeneous. Until sensitive and valid biomarkers are identified, methods are needed to classify mild TBI into more homogeneous subgroups. Four hundred twenty-one adults with mild TBI were divided into groups based on Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) 13-15 without computed tomography (CT) abnormalities, GCS 15 with CT abnormalities, and GCS 13-14 with CT abnormalities, and were compared with 120 trauma controls on 1-month and 1-year outcomes. ⋯ Mean percent of total post-traumatic symptoms endorsed as new or worse and percent endorsing three or more symptoms differed significantly (p < 0.001), with each TBI subgroup reporting significantly more symptoms than the trauma controls at both 1 month and 1 year. In conclusion, this subgrouping improves granularity within mild TBI. While most neuropsychological and functional differences abate by 1 year, reporting three or more post-traumatic symptoms remain for about half of individuals.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 2017
Experimental Investigation of Cavitation as a Possible Damage Mechanism in Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury in Post-mortem Human Subject Heads.
The potential of blast-induced traumatic brain injury from the mechanism of localized cavitation of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is investigated. While the mechanism and criteria for non-impact blast-induced traumatic brain injury is still unknown, this study demonstrates that local cavitation in the CSF layer of the cranial volume could contribute to these injuries. The cranial contents of three post-mortem human subject (PMHS) heads were replaced with both a normal saline solution and a ballistic gel mixture with a simulated CSF layer. ⋯ Sensor data indicates that cavitation may have occurred in the PMHS models at pressure levels below those for a 50% risk of blast lung injury. This study points to skull flexion, the result of the shock wave on the front of the skull leading to a negative pressure in the contrecoup, as a possible mechanism that contributes to the onset of cavitation. Based on observation of intracranial pressure transducer data from the PMHS model, cavitation onset is thought to occur from approximately a 140 kPa head-on incident blast.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 2017
The Estimated Verbal GCS-Sub-Score in Intubated Traumatic Brain Injury Patients - Is it Really Better?
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) has limited utility in intubated patients due to the inability to assign verbal subscores. The verbal subscore can be derived from the eye and motor subscores using a mathematical model, but the advantage of this method and its use in outcome prognostication in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients remains unknown. We compared the validated "Core+CT"-IMPACT-model performance in 251 intubated TBI patients prospectively enrolled in the longitudinal OPTIMISM study between November 2009 and May 2015 when substituting the original motor GCS (mGCS) with the total estimated GCS (teGCS; with estimated verbal subscore). ⋯ At both time-points, motor GCS contributed more to the variability of outcome (Nagelkerke ΔR(2)) than teGCS (3 months: 5.8% vs. 0.4%; 12 months: 5% vs. 2.6%). The sensitivity analysis with imputed missing outcomes yielded similar results, with improved calibration for both GCS variants. In our cohort of intubated TBI patients, there was no statistically or clinically meaningful improvement in the IMPACT-model performance by substituting the original mGCS with teGCS.