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.
Recently published in the Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine by Hov et al. This article relays two case reports on successful diagnosis of SAH in a prehospital setting using a mobile CT unit. As the article reveals, this could entail significantly shortened time to meaningful intervention at a neurosurgical center, especially in… Continue reading SJTREM – Prehospital CT for Diagnosing SAH
This narrative review by Green et al (full text) was published recently in Anaesthesia. It explores the existing literature on the use of near-infrared spectroscopy cerebral oximetry in various settings, including surgery and resuscitation from cardiac arrest.
The always relevant Critical Care Reviews guys have released a complete set of all their reviews published in the last year. The whole book can be downloaded for free at criticalcarereviews.com. Several key neuro-specific trials have been included and reviewed, such as RescueICP, HYBERNATUS, PATCH, ATACH II among others. As usual, CCR provide succinct and precise analyses of the… Continue reading Critical Care Reviews 2017 – The Book
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
Brain impact apnoea causes secondary brain injury. The duration of the apnoea reflects the energy in the injury. We often see these patients in our trauma center as they come intubated. CT-scan can reveal structural brain damage or bleeding. In some pastients the CT-scan is “normal”. However, the brain may have suffered hypoxic injuries undetectable with… Continue reading More Brain Impact Apnoea
Results from the HYBERNATUS trial were just published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Legriel et al. This study recruited 270 patients with convulsive status epilepticus, randomized to either therapeutic hypothermia (32-34 C) or normothermia. All patients were intubated and on controlled ventilation when included. All received standard antiepileptic pharmacological treatment. Primary outcome… Continue reading HYBERNATUS Trial: Hypothermia Not Associated With Better Outcomes in Status Epilepticus
It is widely accepted that hypotension in patients with traumatic brain injury is associated with poorer outcomes, as confirmed in a number of studies. But is there really a reliable cut-off for when we should be happy with a TBI patient´s blood pressure in a prehospital setting? A recent article in JAMA Surgery (Spaite et… Continue reading Prehospital BP and Mortality in TBI: Time to Reevaluate Our Haemodynamic Targets?
Published in 2015: American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Focused Update of the 2013 Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke Regarding Endovascular Treatment. Available here. It acknowledges that a stronger recommendation for the use of endovascular thrombectomy can now be made. This is based on a number of studies suggesting benefit with these… Continue reading AHA/ASA Guidelines on Ischemic Stroke
neuroscand.com 