Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Oct 2015
External validation and recalibration of risk prediction models for acute traumatic brain injury among critically ill adult patients in the United Kingdom.
This study validates risk prediction models for acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) in critical care units in the United Kingdom and recalibrates the models to this population. The Risk Adjustment In Neurocritical care (RAIN) Study was a prospective, observational cohort study in 67 adult critical care units. Adult patients admitted to critical care following acute TBI with a last pre-sedation Glasgow Coma Scale score of less than 15 were recruited. ⋯ Recalibration of the models resulted in small improvements in discrimination and excellent calibration for all models. The risk prediction models demonstrated sufficient statistical performance to support their use in research and audit but fell below the level required to guide individual patient decision-making. The published models for unfavorable outcome at six months had poor calibration in the UK critical care setting and the models recalibrated to this setting should be used in future research.
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J Vasc Interv Neurol · Oct 2015
Traumatic Brain Injury Related to Motor Vehicle Accidents in Guinea: Impact of Treatment Delay, Access to Healthcare, and Patient's Financial Capacity on Length of Hospital Stay and In-hospital Mortality.
Traumatic brain injury related to road traffic accidents poses a major challenge in resource-poor settings within Guinea. ⋯ Prolonged hospital stay and higher in-hospital mortality was associated with longer time interval between accident and hospital arrival. This delay is attributed to inadequate condition of intercity roads and lack of emergency medical services.
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Concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury, and results from impact or impulsive forces to the head, neck or face. Due to the variability and subtlety of symptoms, concussions may go unrecognized or be ignored, especially with the pressure placed on athletes to return to competition. The King-Devick (KD) test, an oculomotor test originally designed for reading evaluation, was recently validated as a concussion screening tool in collegiate athletes. A prospective study was performed using high school football players in an attempt to study the KD as a concussion screening tool in this younger population. ⋯ The KD test is an accurate and easily administered sideline screening tool for concussion in adolescent football players.
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The injured spinal cord does not heal properly. In contrast, tissue repair and functional recovery occur after skin or muscle injuries. The reason for this dichotomy in wound repair is unclear but inflammation, and specifically macrophage activation, likely plays a key role. ⋯ The desynchronized macrophage activation after spinal cord injury is reminiscent of the inflammation present in chronic, non-healing wounds. By refining the role macrophages play in spinal cord injury repair we bring to light important areas for future neuroinflammation and neurotrauma research. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Spinal cord injury.