Acute metabolic brain changes following traumatic brain injury and their relevance to clinical severity and outcome.

Background: Conventional MRI can provide critical information for care of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), but MRI abnormalities rarely correlate to clinical severity and outcome. Previous magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies have reported clinically relevant brain metabolic changes in patients with TBI. However, these changes were often assessed a few to several days after the trauma, with a consequent variation of the metabolic pattern due to temporal changes.

Neurocutaneous syndrome with mental delay, autism, blockage in intracellular vescicular trafficking and melanosome defects.

We evaluated a 11-year-old male patient with mental delay, autism and brownish and whitish skin spots. The former resembled those of neurofibromatosis, the latter those of tuberous sclerosis. The patient received a complete clinical work-up to exclude neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, or any other known neurocutaneous disease, with biochemistry, chromosome analysis and analysis of skin specimens.

Systemic lithium reabsorption from lithium-chloride-coated heat and moisture exchangers.

Objective: To evaluate possible reabsorption and systemic effects of lithium released by lithium-chloride-coated heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) during prolonged mechanical ventilation.

Design: Prospective study, including all patients mechanically ventilated for 5-30 days.

Setting: A 7 bed general-traumatological ICU in a University Hospital.