Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jan 2015
Carotid Artery Blood Flow Decreases After Rapid Head Rotation in Piglets.
Modification of cerebral perfusion pressure and cerebral blood flow (CBF) are crucial components of the therapies designed to reduce secondary damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Previously we documented a robust decrease in CBF after rapid sagittal head rotation in our well-validated animal model of diffuse TBI. Mechanisms responsible for this immediate (<10 min) and sustained (∼24 h) reduction in CBF have not been explored. ⋯ The relative change in carotid artery diameter and flow was significantly decreased in injured animals in comparison with uninjured sham controls (p<0.0001 and p=0.0093, respectively) and did not vary with side (p>0.39). The average carotid blood velocity did not differ between sham and injured animals (p=0.91). These data suggest that a reduction in global CBF after rapid sagittal head rotation may be partially mediated by a reduction in carotid artery flow, via vasoconstriction.
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The nonspecific and variable presentation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has motivated an intense search for blood-based biomarkers that can objectively predict the severity of injury. However, it is not known how cytosolic proteins released from traumatized brain tissue reach the peripheral blood. ⋯ Clinically relevant manipulation of glymphatic activity, including sleep deprivation and cisternotomy, suppressed or eliminated TBI-induced increases in serum S100β, GFAP, and neuron specific enolase. We conclude that routine TBI patient management may limit the clinical utility of blood-based biomarkers because their brain-to-blood transport depends on glymphatic activity.
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This study examined the clinical utility of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) in individuals with complicated mild, moderate or severe TBI. One hundred individuals with TBI (n = 35 complicated mild or moderate TBI; n = 65 severe TBI) and 100 control participants matched on key demographic variables from the WAIS-IV normative dataset completed the WAIS-IV. Univariate analyses indicated that participants with severe TBI had poorer performance than matched controls on all index scores and subtests (except Matrix Reasoning). ⋯ Effect sizes for index and subtest scores were generally small-to-moderate for the group with complicated mild/moderate and moderate-to-large for the group with severe TBI. PSI also showed good sensitivity and specificity for classifying individuals with severe TBI versus controls. Findings provide support for the clinical utility of the WAIS-IV in individuals with complicated mild, moderate, and severe TBI.
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Brain injury : [BI] · Jan 2015
Review Historical ArticleChronic traumatic encephalopathy in professional sports: retrospective and prospective views.
The purposes of this paper are to review: (1) the history of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in sports, (2) the similarities and differences between historic and current definitions of CTE, (3) recent epidemiology and cohort studies of CTE and (4) controversies regarding the current CTE positions. ⋯ There are multiple causes of abnormal tau protein deposition in the human brain and the pathogenesis of CTE may not be related solely to concussion and/or sub-concussive injury. In all likelihood, the causes of CTE are a multivariate, as opposed to a univariate, phenomenon.
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Developing insight into which factors determine prognosis after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is useful for clinical practice, research, and policy making. Several steps can be identified in prediction research: univariate analysis, multivariable analysis, and the development of prediction models. For each step, several methodological issues should be considered, such as selection/coding of predictors and dealing with missing data. "Traditional" predictors include demographic factors (age), type of injury, clinical severity, second insults, and the presence of structural abnormalities on neuroimaging. ⋯ Prognostic models can be used for providing information to relatives of individual patients, for resource allocation, and to support decisions on treatment. At the group level, prognostic models aid in the characterization of patient populations, are important to clinical trial design and analysis, and importantly, can serve as benchmarks for assessing quality of care. Continued development, refinement, and validation of prognostic models for TBI is required and this should become an ongoing process.