Neuroworsening in Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury.

Patients with moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at high risk for developing intracerebral complications and in particular neuroworsening (NW). NW can be unpredictable and may be an important risk factor for poor neurologic outcome and for increased mortality. NW is often a medical and surgical emergency, and it is, therefore, fundamental to identify patients at risk early because they require strict neuromonitoring and repeated neuroimaging.

Efficacy of acute administration of inhaled argon on traumatic brain injury in mice.

Background: Whilst there has been progress in supportive treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI), specific neuroprotective interventions are lacking. Models of ischaemic heart and brain injury show the therapeutic potential of argon gas, but it is still not known whether inhaled argon (iAr) is protective in TBI. We tested the effects of acute administration of iAr on brain oedema, tissue micro-environmental changes, neurological functions, and structural outcome in a mouse model of TBI.

Prone Positioning during Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. A Multicenter Cohort Study and Propensity-matched Analysis.

Prone positioning reduces mortality in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). To date, no evidence supports the use of prone positioning (PP) during venovenous extracorporeal oxygenation (ECMO). The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility, safety, and effect on oxygenation and lung mechanics of PP during ECMO.

Organ donation: from diagnosis to transplant.

Purpose Of Review: Organ transplantation has largely expanded over the last decades and despite several improvements have been made in the complex process occurring between the identification of organ donors and organ transplant, there is still a chronic inability to meet the needs of patients. Consequently, the optimization of the transplant process through its different steps is crucial, and the role of the intensivists is fundamental as it requires clinical, managerial and communication skills to avoid the loss of potential donors. The purpose of this review is to provide an update on the transplant process from the early identification of the donor, to transplant.

Intracranial pressure monitor insertion in traumatic brain injury: a single center, retrospective decision process analysis.

Background: Evidence-based indications for intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are lacking. The aim of this study was to analyze the main factors that guided the decision-making of invasive ICP monitoring in a large cohort of TBI patients from our institution.

Methods: This is a retrospective, single centre, observational study including adult TBI patients consecutively admitted to our Neurointensive Care Unit over 20 years.

Neuroprotection in Traumatic Brain Injury: Mesenchymal Stromal Cells can Potentially Overcome Some Limitations of Previous Clinical Trials.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In the last 30 years several neuroprotective agents, attenuating the downstream molecular and cellular damaging events triggered by TBI, have been extensively studied. Even though many drugs have shown promising results in the pre-clinical stage, all have failed in large clinical trials.

Blood Component Therapy and Coagulopathy in Trauma: A Systematic Review of the Literature from the Trauma Update Group.

Background: Traumatic coagulopathy is thought to increase mortality and its treatment to reduce preventable deaths. However, there is still uncertainty in this field, and available literature results may have been overestimated.

Methods: We searched the MEDLINE database using the PubMed platform.

Utility of interferon-γ release assay results to monitor anti-tubercular treatment in adults and children.

Background: Interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs), including the commercially available T-SPOT.TB, QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G), and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QTF-G-IT), enable detection of circulating T lymphocytes responsive to specific Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens. Studies of the potential role of serial IGRAs for assessment of response to anti-tubercular therapy are accumulating.