Prognostic Value of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in Patients With Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: Biomarkers have been suggested as potential prognostic predictors following a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury but their prognostic accuracy is still uncertain. The objective of this systematic review is to assess the ability of the glial fibrillary acidic protein to predict prognosis in patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and BIOSIS electronic databases and conference abstracts, bibliographies of selected studies, and narrative reviews were searched.

Predictive value of neuron-specific enolase for prognosis in patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Prognosis is difficult to establish early after moderate or severe traumatic brain injury despite representing an important concern for patients, families and medical teams. Biomarkers, such as neuron-specific enolase, have been proposed as potential early prognostic indicators. Our objective was to determine the association between neuron-specific enolase and clinical outcomes, and the prognostic value of neuron-specific enolase after a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.

Ruptured aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in the emergency department: Clinical outcome of patients having a lumbar puncture for red blood cell count, visual and spectrophotometric xanthochromia after a negative computed tomography.

Objectives: Over the last decade, computed tomography scanners have gained resolution and have become the standard of care in the investigation of neurologically intact patients suffering from acute headache. The added value of the combined assessment of red blood cells count, visual and spectrophotometric xanthochromia, to detect ruptured aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (ASAH) following a negative head computed tomography (NHCT) was studied.

Methods: The population consisted of all patients who had cerebrospinal fluid tested for spectrophotometric xanthochromia between 2003 and 2009 identified through the clinical-laboratory database and who met all the inclusion criteria: >14 years old, had an initial Glasgow Coma Score of 15, a non-traumatic acute headache with a suspected subarachnoid hemorrhage recorded in the initial ED differential diagnosis and an initial negative head CT scan.

Predictive value of S-100β protein for prognosis in patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To determine the ability and accuracy of the S-100β protein in predicting prognosis after a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, BIOSIS (from their inception to April 2012), conference abstracts, bibliographies of eligible articles, and relevant narrative reviews.

Stability of norepinephrine infusions prepared in dextrose and normal saline solutions.

Purpose: Norepinephrine (NE) infusions are commonly used in the intensive care unit and in the operating room. Data on long term stability of NE solutions are lacking. This prospective study was designed to evaluate the stability of NE, in dextrose (5%) in water (D5W) and in normal saline (NS) solutions, for a period up to seven days.