We all recall the elegant curves that ostensibly show the neat relationship between mean arterial blood pressure (or CPP) and cerebral blood flow. This relationship classically has its lower and upper limits, beyond which CBF will vary passively with the systemic pressure. Stay within these limits and all is good, the mantra goes. However, as… Continue reading Cerebral Autoregulation – What do we know?
This is a subject that has been on our backburner for a while and it’s now due for a discussion on neuroscand.com. The use of beta-blockers in traumatic brain injury is nothing new. The indications have been largely centered on targeting and preventing paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) and associated post-TBI autonomic phenomena. Please see our… Continue reading Beta-blockers and TBI
Summer is in its last month so it’s time to get back to the NeuroScand grind. And we do so with this article by Zoerle and colleagues (among whom we can count Dr. Nino Stocchetti), published in July in Frontiers in Neurology. “Rethinking Neuroprotection in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Toward Bedside Neuroprotection” starts off by… Continue reading Rethinking Neuroprotection in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Toward Bedside Neuroprotection
A bit more ICP-material for our basic science portfolio: Medscape´s review by Czosnyka and colleagues. It was published in 2007 but remains reasonably current and provides a useful introduction to intracranial pressure monitoring and its derived indices.
I happened upon this review by Wagshul et al, published in 2011. ICP waveforms and the factors influencing them can be difficult to grasp. This article offers an extensive review of the history and science of brain pulsatility. Well worth a read when you have a few spare hours.
Excellent review of asssessment of cerebral circulation by Donnelly et al. in Critical Care May 2016. The authors go through most of today’s available modalities and review their utility in neurocritical care. Find the article here.
Really interesting article in the latest issue of JAMA Neurology: Specific EEG changes, known as periodic discharges (PDs), seem to be of value in predicting brain tissue hypoxia in vulnerable patients with acute brain injury. In this investigation, Witsch and colleagues included 90 patients with high-grade subarachnoid haemorrhage and monitored them with continuous EEG in addition to… Continue reading EEG and Oxygenation in Acute Brain Injury
Watch this lecture by Michael Avidan, Washington University School of Medicine. Introduction and clinical use of EEG. Another resource are the learning modules of Partners Healthcare. Register for free at www.anesthesiaeeg.com.
Ivan came across this very useful and reasonably understandable introduction to EEG monitoring for anaesthetic use. It´s put together by the guys at ICETAP (International Consortium for EEG Training of Anesthesia Practitioners). It´s part of a series of tutorials on all things EEG for complete novices.
Moerman et al, Anesthesiology Aug 2015. Link to PubMed here. In this study, paradoxical changes in ScO2 after pharmacological-induced pressure changes occurred exclusively in patients with intact cerebral autoregulation, corroborating the hypothesis that these paradoxical responses might be attributable to a functional cerebral autoregulation.
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