Direct observation during surgery shows preservation of cerebral microcirculation in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To describe the alterations of the cortical microcirculation of the brain (blood flow and vessel density) in TBI patients who and compare them with a control group.

Methods: Prospective and observational study in a third-level university hospital. Cortical microcirculation in the brain was directly observed using sidestream dark-field (SDF) imaging in 14 patients who underwent surgery: 5 subdural hematomas (SDH) and 9 parenchymal lesions (contusions/hematomas).

[First intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging in a Spanish hospital of the public healthcare system: initial experience, feasibility and difficulties in our environment].

Objective: Intraoperative MRI is considered the gold standard among all intraoperative imaging technologies currently available. Its main indication is in the intraoperative detection of residual disease during tumour resections. We present our initial experience with the first intraoperative low-field MRI in a Spanish hospital of the public healthcare system.

Direct observation of human microcirculation during decompressive craniectomy after stroke.

Objectives: Most knowledge related to the pathophysiology of microcirculation in ischemic stroke comes from experimental research. Unfortunately, data on microcirculation in the human brain are limited, partially as a result of the lack of appropriate investigational techniques. The objective of our study was to test the hypothesis that cortical microcirculatory alterations in the brain, in terms of blood flow and vessel density, occur in patients with stroke who require surgical decompression compared with a control group.

[Study of a brain microcirculation in cranioencephalic trauma using the Side Stream Field (SDF) system].

Posttraumatic tissular hypoxia can be due to multiple causes, including microcirculation disturbances, which can be studied with the SDF (Side Stream Dark Field) system. This system is based on a small hand-held microscope that eliminates directly reflected green polarised light from an organ surface using an orthogonal analyser. It offers clear images of red and white blood cells flow through microcirculation.