Hypotension after Induction of Anesthesia as a Predictor of Hypotension after Opening the Dura Mater during Emergency Craniotomy.

The subject of this study is intraoperative hypotension during the evacuation of acute subdural haematoma (ASH). We examined the association between the decrease in intraoperative blood pressure (BP) after the induction of anaesthesia and the decrease in BP after opening the dura mater. The second aim of this study was to assess the relationship between preoperative hypertension and the emergence of an intraoperative drop in BP.

Plasma Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Is Useful for Predicting Mortality in Critically Ill Patients.

Elevated neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) occurs in a wide range of systemic diseases. This study examined the clinical utility of plasma NGAL to predict intensive care unit (ICU) and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients. A total of 62 patients hospitalized in a mixed ICU were included; pNGAL, creatinine, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were assayed on four consecutive days (D1-D4) following ICU admission.

Biomarkers Facilitate the Assessment of Prognosis in Critically Ill Patients with Primary Brain Injury: A Cohort Study.

Primary injuries to the brain are common causes of hospitalization of patients in intensive care units (ICU). The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring system is widely used for prognostication among critically ill subjects. Biomarkers help to monitor the severity of neurological status.

A Questionnaire Survey of Management of Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage in Poland.

Background: Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) remains a potentially devastating threat to the brain with a serious impact on mortality and morbidity. We attempted to investigate correspondence between the current guidelines for aSAH management and real clinical practice in Poland.

Methods: A web-based questionnaire was performed between 03.

Plasma Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 and Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 as Prognostic Biomarkers in Critically Ill Patients.

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) plays an important role in inflammatory and pathological processes by enabling the inflow of leukocytes to the site of infection or tissue damage. MMP-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) have been described as potential prognostic biomarkers in various clinical settings. The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of plasma levels of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 as well as the MMP-9/ TIMP-1 ratio in predicting the outcome in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Serum levels of the S100B protein and neuron-specific enolase are associated with mortality in critically ill patients.

Introduction: Evaluation of the prognostic potential of the S100B protein and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) as predictors of mortality in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU).

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted on 62 patients. Basic clinical variables and blood samples for S100B and NSE level testing were obtained during the first four days after admission.

A comparison of subhypnotic doses of propofol and midazolam during spinal anaesthesia for elective Caesarean section.

Background: This study compared two types of sedation in pregnant women receiving subarachnoid anaesthesia for elective Caesarean section.

Methods: This prospective randomised study included 56 women. Patients were sedated with propofol (PROP group, n = 27) or midazolam (MID group, n = 29) via intravenous infusion after extraction of the foetus.

The sitting position during neurosurgical procedures does not influence serum biomarkers of pulmonary parenchymal injury.

Background: The sitting position during neurosurgical operations predisposes to air penetration through veins and the movement of the air through the pulmonary circulation. Contact of an air bubble with the endothelium can lead to acute lung injury. The presence of specific pulmonary proteins in the plasma such as surfactant protein D (SP-D) and Clara cell protein (CC16) is a biomarker of damaging processes at the air-blood barrier.

[Anaesthesiology in the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II].

Until the outbreak of WW II, anaesthesiology, as a separate specialty, did not exist in Poland. After the fall of Poland, a large section of the Polish Armed Forces was evacuated to France and after that, to the UK, where Polish military physicians had a unique opportunity to obtain training in modern anaesthesia. The first regular courses were established at the University of Edinburgh.

[Surfactant protein D as a biomarker for lung injury].

Respiratory distress and the need for mechanical ventilation, have been the most common reasons for ITU hospitalization. Pulmonary pathology is sometimes difficult to diagnose and differentiate; therefore we are on a continuous search for diagnostic tools and markers. It has been suggested that in patients intubated for acute lung injury, lower concentrations of surfactant proteins A and D in bronchoalveolar fluid and higher concentrations in the plasma are associated with more severe lung injury and worse clinical outcomes.

[Endoscopic transsphenoidal treatment of pituitary adenomas].

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study is to present a new endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal method of surgical treatment of pituitary adenomas and to evaluate the results and complications of the method.

Material And Surgical Technique: From October 2001 to June 2003 in the Department of Neurosurgery of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice 88 operations of pituitary adenomas were performed using the transnasal transsphenoidal endoscopic method. The group of patients consisted of 50 females and 38 males.

Non-neoplastic, degenerative brain pathologies and fibroses diagnosed on the basis of ultra-small samples obtained by stereotactic biopsy.

Brain biopsy and other stereotactic procedures have evolved over the last decades. Recently, the morbidity and mortality decreased radically along with an increase in the number of successful histopathological diagnoses. Therefore, applications of appropriate treatments in neoplastic brain pathologies are now possible, especially of those located in deep regions.

[Multimodal intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring during cerebellopontine angle tumor surgery. Benefit or loss?].

In the Neurosurgery Department, Silesian University School of Medicine, continuous monitoring of selected neurophysiological functions of the central and peripheral nervous system was introduced in 1998 as a routine procedure in cerebellopontine angle surgery and some other operations performed in the petroclival region. Such benefits from this method as increased patient safety, availability of information about dynamic changes in the monitored structures, and the possibility of cranial nerves localization using stimulation in the operating area, are quite obvious. The paper presents results of a detailed statistical analysis of the amount of time required for preparation and for operating in 174 cerebellopontine angle tumor surgeries performed in the years 1986-2002 with (group M) and without (group BM, before the year 1998) intraoperative monitoring.

[Endoscopic ventriculostomy of the third ventricle in adults. Own experience].

Only few reports can be found on endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in the Polish literature, and the majority of other reports concern paediatric or mixed population. This has induced the authors to report their experience with ETV in adults, reporting the results and discussing the usefulness and effectiveness of this procedure, causes of complications and failure. ETV was carried out in 20 patients aged over 18 years in a two-year period, beginning in 1999.