Management of tracheostomized patients after poor grade subarachnoid hemorrhage: Disease related and pulmonary risk factors for failed and delayed decannulation.

Objective: Tracheostomy is often indicated in patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (sSAH). Decannulation is a major goal of neurorehabilitation, but cannot be achieved in all patients. The aim of this study was to describe the course of decannulation and to identify associated risk factors in a single-center collective.

The Impact of Extubation Failure in Patients with Good-Grade Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Objective: To analyze the clinical impact of extubation failure (EF) in patients with good-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), in whom a good clinical course usually is expected.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the clinical data from 141 patients with SAH and 1) initial Hunt & Hess grade 1-3; 2) induction of general anesthesia for intervention; and 3) the presence of data about the functional outcome. Patients were divided into 3 groups: 1) primary tracheotomized patients (PT); 2) patients with successful extubation (ES); and 3) patients with EF (reintubation within 48 hours).

Postural Control in Bilateral Vestibular Failure: Its Relation to Visual, Proprioceptive, Vestibular, and Cognitive Input.

Patients with bilateral vestibular failure (BVF) suffer from postural and gait unsteadiness with an increased risk of falls. The aim of this study was to elucidate the differential role of otolith, semicircular canal (SSC), visual, proprioceptive, and cognitive influences on the postural stability of BVF patients. Center-of-pressure displacements were recorded by posturography under six conditions: target visibility; tonic head positions in the pitch plane; horizontal head shaking; sensory deprivation; dual task; and tandem stance.

Safety of Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy in Patients with Acute Brain Injury and Reduced PaO/FiO Ratio-Retrospective Analysis of 54 Patients.

Objective: Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) is a commonly performed method in neurocritical care, and its safety has been proven in numerous studies. Nevertheless, data regarding the application in patients with acute brain injury and poor respiratory function are poor. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of hypoxemia and hypercapnia during PDT in those patients.

Hippocampal gray matter volume in bilateral vestibular failure.

Bilateral vestibular failure (BVF) is a severe chronic disorder of the labyrinth or the eighth cranial nerve characterized by unsteadiness of gait and disabling oscillopsia during head movements. According to animal data, vestibular input to the hippocampus is proposed to contribute to spatial memory and spatial navigation. Except for one seminal study showing the association of impaired spatial navigation and hippocampal atrophy, patient data in BVF are lacking.

Altered resting-state functional connectivity in patients with chronic bilateral vestibular failure.

Patients with bilateral vestibular failure (BVF) suffer from gait unsteadiness, oscillopsia and impaired spatial orientation. Brain imaging studies applying caloric irrigation to patients with BVF have shown altered neural activity of cortical visual-vestibular interaction: decreased bilateral neural activity in the posterior insula and parietal operculum and decreased deactivations in the visual cortex. It is unknown how this affects functional connectivity in the resting brain and how changes in connectivity are related to vestibular impairment.