Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Nov 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialProgressive hemorrhagic injury after severe traumatic brain injury: effect of hemoglobin transfusion thresholds.
OBJECT There is limited literature available to guide transfusion practices for patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Recent studies have shown that maintaining a higher hemoglobin threshold after severe TBI offers no clinical benefit. The present study aimed to determine if a higher transfusion threshold was independently associated with an increased risk of progressive hemorrhagic injury (PHI), thereby contributing to higher rates of morbidity and mortality. ⋯ PHI was associated with a longer median length of stay in the intensive care unit (18.3 vs 14.4 days, respectively; p = 0.04) and poorer Glasgow Outcome Scale scores (42.9% vs 25.5%, respectively; p = 0.02) at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS A higher transfusion threshold of 10 g/dl after severe TBI increased the risk of severe PHI events. These results indicate the potential adverse effect of using a higher hemoglobin transfusion threshold after severe TBI.
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Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common among US veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND). We postulated that these injuries may modulate pain processing in these individuals and affect their subjective pain levels. ⋯ Comorbid PTSD and mTBI is associated with increased self-reported pain intensity. mTBI alone was not associated with increased pain.
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Impact to the head or rapid head acceleration-deceleration can cause traumatic brain injury (TBI) with a characteristic pathology of traumatic axonal injury (TAI) and secondary damage in white matter tracts. Myelin and oligodendrocyte lineage cells have significant roles in the progression of white matter pathology after TBI and in the potential for plasticity and subsequent recovery. The myelination pattern of specific brain regions, such as frontal cortex, may also increase susceptibility to neurodegeneration and psychiatric symptoms after TBI. ⋯ Thus, effective remyelination and myelin remodeling may be neurobiological substrates of plasticity in neuronal circuits that require long-distance communication. This perspective integrates findings from multiple contexts to propose a model of myelin and oligodendrocyte lineage cell relevance in white matter injury after TBI. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'Oligodendrocytes in Health and Disease'.
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Review
Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of traumatic brain injury in Lebanon: A systematic review.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a debilitating medical and emerging public health problem that is affecting people worldwide due to a multitude of factors including both domestic and war-related acts. The objective of this paper is to systematically review the status of TBI in Lebanon - a Middle Eastern country with a weak health system that was chartered by several wars and intermittent outbursts of violence - in order to identify the present gaps in knowledge, direct future research initiatives and to assist policy makers in planning progressive and rehabilitative policies. ⋯ Apparently, status of TBI in Lebanon suffers from several gaps which need to be bridged through implementing more basic, epidemiological, clinical and translational research in this field in the future.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Nov 2016
Postconcussion syndrome: demographics and predictors in 221 patients.
OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine the demographics and predictors of postconcussion syndrome (PCS) in a large series of patients using a novel definition of PCS. METHODS The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of 284 consecutive concussed patients, 221 of whom had PCS on the basis of at least 3 symptoms persisting at least 1 month. This definition of PCS was uniformly employed and is unique in accepting an expanded list of symptoms, in shortening the postconcussion interval to 1 month from 3 months, and in excluding those with focal injuries such as hemorrhages and contusions. ⋯ This is likely due to differences in the definitions of PCS used in research. These results suggest that the use of ICD-10 and DSM-IV to diagnose PCS may be biased toward those who are vulnerable to concussions or with more severe forms of PCS. It is thus important to redefine PCS based on evidence-based medicine.