Articles: brain-injuries.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 1997
Comparative StudyEarly neuropathologic effects of mild or moderate hypoxemia after controlled cortical impact injury in rats.
Hypoxemia has detrimental effects after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in both experimental models and humans. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of mild or moderate hypoxemia on early histologic and motor functional outcome after controlled cortical impact (CCI) in rats. Anesthetized rats underwent CCI and were randomized to receive mild (FiO2 = 13%, n = 6), moderate (FiO2 = 11%, n = 9), or no (FiO2 = 33%, n = 6) hypoxemia for 30 min after trauma. ⋯ TUNEL-positive neurons were seen in ipsilateral cortex and dentate gyrus at 6, 24, and 72 h after trauma, and in ipsilateral CA3 hippocampal neurons and thalamus at 24 and 72 h. Moderate hypoxemia augments CA3 neuronal death and early motor functional deficits after CCI. The pattern of DNA fragmentation in selectively vulnerable neurons suggests that apoptosis may play a role in the delayed neuronal death seen after TBI.
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The capacity of a calpain inhibitor to reduce losses of neurofilament 200-, neurofilament 68- and calpain 1-mediated spectrin breakdown products was examined following traumatic brain injury in the rat. Twenty-four hours after unilateral cortical impact injury, western blot analyses detected neurofilament 200 losses of 65% (ipsilateral) and 36% (contralateral) of levels observed in naive, uninjured rat cortices. Neurofilament 68 protein levels decreased only in the ipsilateral cortex by 35% relative to naive protein levels. ⋯ Morphological protection included preservation of dendritic structure and reduction of axonal retraction balls. In addition, histopathological studies employing hematoxylin and eosin staining indicated reduced extent of contusion at the injury site. These data indicate that calpain inhibitors could represent a viable strategy for preserving the cytoskeletal structure of injured neurons after experimental traumatic brain injury in vivo.
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After severe head injury intracranial pressure (ICP) must be measured continuously for management to assess and maintain the cerebral perfusion. Therefore in our hospital epidural transducers are used. To prove the efficiency of this method in a 12-month period the clinical courses of 23 patients with intracranial pressure transducers were analysed retrospectively. ⋯ In 17 patients the measurements were considered as reliable, 6 measurements were not reliable, which included 1 of the 5 patients who died. One transduce was displaced, another one showed a hemorrhage at the drill hole. There was no infection.
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To determine the incidence of acute lung injury (ALI) in comatose patients after isolated traumatic brain injury, to determine whether specific brain lesions diagnosed by cranial computed tomographic scans are associated with ALI, and to determine the outcome of patients with head injuries who developed ALI. ⋯ ALI was common in comatose victims with an isolated traumatic brain injury and was associated with an increased risk of death or a severe neurological morbidity. ALI was associated with the global severity of head injury but not with specific anatomic lesions diagnosed by cranial computed tomographic scans.
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Nihon Ika Daigaku zasshi · Apr 1997
[A lateral fluid percussion model for the experimental severe brain injury and a morphological study in the rats].
Few morphological studies have been reported on fluid-percussion experimental models using mechanically induced severe brain injury have been reported. This study was initiated to evaluate microscopic and immunohistochemical findings in severe brain injury models using rats. The experimental rats and the methods used were the same as described for a fluid-percussion model. ⋯ In the high level injury, there was marked edema in the white matter of the ipsi- and contralateral cerebral hemisphere, and multiple petechial hemorrhage in the brain stem and cerebellum. Microscopic findings in the corpus callosum, subependyma and brain stem in the vicinity of petechial hemorrhage revealed a large number of axonal swellings, but in these specimens only a few typical axonal retraction balls were seen with Bodian and immunohistochemical stains. In conclusion, this experimental model seems to simulate local and diffuse shearing injury, showing various morphological characteristics of diffuse axonal injury.