Clinical impact of early hyperglycemia during acute phase of traumatic brain injury.

Introduction: While tight glucose control has been widely adopted in the critical care setting, the optimal target glucose level following acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains debatable. This observational study was conducted to delineate the relationship between glucose levels and clinical outcomes during acute phase (first 5 days) of TBI.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 429 TBI patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) from January 2005 to December 2006.

Early mortality following spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

The authors reviewed the charts of 1,421 patients with cerebral hemorrhage to determine the cause of death. Limitation or withdrawal of life-sustaining interventions was the most common cause of death (68%) followed by brain death (28%). Neurologic reasons were the most common cause of delayed decisions to withdraw or limit therapy.

Cube corner retroreflector test and analysis.

Cube corner retroreflectors with nominal dihedral angles of 90 degrees 0' 1.5'' were fabricated, tested, and analyzed to determine the return energy in the annular ring of the far field diffraction pattern required by the Laser Geodynamic Satellite. Performance was assessed for variations in the dihedral angles, optical surfaces, and thermal environment.