Neurointensive Care of Traumatic Brain Injury Patients Based on Coagulation and Fibrinolytic Parameter Monitoring.

Coagulopathy, a common complication of traumatic brain injury (TBI), is characterized by a hypercoagulable state developing immediately after injury, with hyperfibrinolysis and bleeding tendency peaking 3 h after injury, followed by fibrinolysis shutdown. Reflecting this timeframe, the coagulation factor fibrinogen is first consumed and then degraded after TBI, its concentration rapidly decreasing by 3 h post-TBI. The fibrinolytic marker D-dimer reaches its maximum concentration at the same time.

Two Cases of Bronchial Artery Racemose Hemangioma Successfully Treated with Bronchial Artery Embolization.

Rupture of a racemose hemangioma causing dilatation and tortuosity of the bronchial artery can result in massive bleeding and respiratory failure. Bronchial artery embolization (BAE) can treat this life-threatening condition, as we show in two cases. The first case was of an 89-year-old female complaining of sudden-onset chest and back pain.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Earthquake-Related Head Injuries: A Systematic Review.

Objective: We conducted a systematic review to determine the prevalence and characteristics of earthquake-associated head injuries for better disaster preparedness and management.

Methods: We searched for all publications related to head injuries and earthquakes from 1985 to 2018 in MEDLINE and other major databases. A search was conducted using "earthquakes," "wounds and injuries," and "cranio-cerebral trauma" as a medical subject headings.

Treatment of Geriatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Nationwide Cohort Study.

Background: Because of the aging of the Japanese population, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have increased in elderly adults. However, the effectiveness and prognosis of intensive treatment for geriatric TBI have not yet been determined. Thus, we used nationwide data from the Japan Neurotrauma Data Bank (JNTDB) projects to analyze prognostic factors for intensive and aggressive treatments.

Feasibility of Human Neural Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Acute Subdural Hematoma in a Rat Model: A Pilot Study.

Human neural stem cells (hNSCs) transplantation in several brain injury models has established their therapeutic potential. However, the feasibility of hNSCs transplantation is still not clear for acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) brain injury that needs external decompression. Thus, the aim of this pilot study was to test feasibility using a rat ASDH decompression model with two clinically relevant transplantation methods.

Quantitative pupillometry and neuron-specific enolase independently predict return of spontaneous circulation following cardiogenic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a prospective pilot study.

This study aimed to identify neurological and pathophysiological factors that predicted return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This prospective 1-year observational study evaluated patients with cardiogenic OHCA who were admitted to a tertiary medical center, Nippon Medical School Hospital. Physiological and neurological examinations were performed at admission for quantitative infrared pupillometry (measured with NPi-200, NeurOptics, CA, USA), arterial blood gas, and blood chemistry.

Treatment Strategies of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage from Bilateral Vertebral Artery Dissection: A Case Report and Literature Review Focusing on the Availability of Stent Placement.

Background: Bilateral vertebral artery dissection (VAD) may result in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). However, a variety of factors contribute to the difficulties with treating SAH. We report a case of bilateral VAD with SAH, as well as a literature review.

Outcome and Refractory Factor of Intensive Treatment for Geriatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Analysis of 1165 Cases Registered in the Japan Neurotrauma Data Bank.

Objective: With the increase in the aged population, geriatric traumatic brain injury (gTBI) is also rapidly increasing in Japan. There is thus a need to review the effect of intensive treatments for gTBIs. The aim of this study was 1) to assess how intensive treatments influenced patient outcome and 2) to identify the refractory factor against these intensive treatments in gTBI, from the Japan Neurotrauma Data Bank (JNTDB).

Association between serum lactate levels and early neurogenic pulmonary edema after nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background And Purpose: Few studies have described the risk factors associated with the development of neurological pulmonary edema (NPE) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). We have hypothesized that acute-phase increases in serum lactate levels are associated with the early development of NPE following SAH. The aim of this study was to clarify the association between lactic acidosis and NPE in patients with nontraumatic SAH.

Traumatic cerebrovascular injury following severe head injury: proper diagnostic timetable and examination methods.

Traumatic cerebrovascular injury (TCVI) is a serious complication of severe head injury, with a high mortality rate. To establish a proper treatment strategy for TCVI, we investigated patients with a high risk of TCVI according to the Guidelines for the Management of Severe Head Injury (hereafter "the Guidelines") to elucidate the validity of the criteria for TCVI in the Guidelines and the appropriate screening timing and methods. Of those transported to our facility between December 2008 and June 2012, 67 individuals with a high risk of TCVI were evaluated to reveal the proper timing and methods of vascular evaluation.

Measurement of inflammatory cytokines and thrombomodulin in chronic subdural hematoma.

Inflammation and the coagulation system may influence the genesis of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). The appearance of CSDH on computed tomography (CT) varies with the stage of the hematoma. This study investigated the pathogenesis and the recurrence of CSDH by comparing cytokine levels with the CT features of CSDH in 26 patients with 34 CSDHs who underwent single burr-hole surgery at our hospital between October 2004 and November 2006.

Global end-diastolic volume is associated with the occurrence of delayed cerebral ischemia and pulmonary edema after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Predictive variables of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) and pulmonary edema following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) remain unknown. We aimed to determine associations between transpulmonary thermodilution-derived variables and DCI and pulmonary edema occurrence after SAH. We reviewed 34 consecutive SAH patients monitored by the PiCCO system.

[Risk factors of heatstroke].

In recent years, there has been an increased tendency for heatstroke to occur. A rise in mean temperature and the occurrence of extreme high temperatures and fine weather are environmental factors of risk. The prevalence of heatstroke characteristically increases before the passing of the rainy season, and approximately three times more men than women are susceptible.

Medical relief activities conducted by Nippon Medical School in the acute phase of the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011.

At 14:46 on March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami occurred off the coast of Honshu, Japan. In the acute phase of this catastrophe, one of our teams was deployed as a Tokyo Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) to Kudan Kaikan in Tokyo, where the ceiling of a large hall had partially collapsed as the result of the earthquake, to conduct triage at the scene: 6 casualties were assigned to the red category (immediate), which included 1 case of cardiopulmonary arrest and 1 of flail chest; 8 casualties in the yellow category (delayed); and 22 casualties in the green category (minor). One severely injured person was transported to our hospital.

Lower extracellular glucose level prolonged in elderly patients with severe traumatic brain injury: a microdialysis study.

Age may be an independent predictor of outcomes in traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the causes of the poor outcomes in elderly patients remain unclear. To clarify the differences between elderly and young patients with TBI, brain metabolism parameters were monitored with the microdialysis method in 30 patients with severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale scores 3-8). The microdialysis probe was inserted in the penumbra area of the brain and extracellular levels of glucose, glutamate, glycerol, lactate, and pyruvate were measured hourly for the initial 168 hours (7 days) after operation.

Time course of recovery from cerebral vulnerability after severe traumatic brain injury: a microdialysis study.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the time course of recovery from cerebral vulnerability, using microdialysis (MD) technique and cerebral vascular autoregulation measurement, to clarify the appropriate timing of subsequent major surgical procedures, and to minimize the possibility of secondary brain injury in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (STBI).

Methods: In 3,470 MD samples of 25 patients with STBI, cerebral extracellular biomarkers (glucose, lactate, pyruvate, glycerol, and glutamate) were measured. In addition, to estimate cerebral vascular autoregulaton, the pressure reactivity index (PRx) was calculated with intracranial pressure (ICP) and mean arterial pressure.

Clinical analysis of spinal cord injury with or without cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, spondylosis, and canal stenosis in elderly head injury patients.

Patients with degenerative diseases of the cervical spine, such as ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, spondylosis, and canal stenosis, sometimes present with acute spinal cord injury caused by minor trauma. However, the relative risk of cervical cord injury with these diseases is unknown. The clinical and radiological features of 94 elderly patients with head injury, 57 men and 37 women aged from 65 to 98 years (mean 76.

Cerebral vasospasms after intraventricular hemorrhage from an arteriovenous malformation: case report.

A 33-year-old female presented with a rare case of severe vasospasm following the rupture of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) without subarachnoid hemorrhage. Initial computed tomography (CT) revealed a subcutaneous hematoma and cast formation of intraventricular clots without the deposition of subarachnoid blood in any basal cistern. Cerebral angiography revealed a small AVM located in the right parietal lobe without aneurysmal formations.

[Symmetrical bilateral epidural hematoma after head injury in the mid parietooccipital region: case report].

The authors presented a patient with acute symmetrical bilateral epidural hematomas, which are rare but life threatening. A 72-year-old male accidentally fell from the roof at a height of about 3 meters and hit his head against the ground. He was transferred to the emergency ward in our hospital.