Sustained Head Trauma Research Articles

Acute Computer Tomography Findings in Pediatric Accidental Head Trauma-Review.

Head trauma in paediatric patients is a worldwide and constant issue. It is the number one cause for childhood mortality and morbidity. Children of all ages are susceptible to sustaining head trauma and the anatomical characteristics of the region put them in a high-risk category for developing severe traumatic brain injuries. Boys are more frequently victims of accidental head traumas, and their injuries are more severe than those encountered in girls. The mechanisms of the trauma are a determining factor for the types of lesions we find. The traumatic injuries fall into two categories, primary and secondary. Primary traumatic injuries can be severe and life threatening, and their presence needs to be documented in order to set the correct therapeutic conduct. Due to their importance, this pictorial review focuses on them and the images used herein are selected from the database of our hospital. It is important to distinguish each of the different injuries that can be encountered. At the same time, radiologists are advised to remember that for children up to five years of age, some non-accidental imaging findings may appear to coincide with those found in accidental head trauma.

Traumatic Brain Injury in Alpine Winter Sports: Comparison of Two Case Series from a Swiss Trauma Center 30 Years Apart.

Between 3 and 15% of winter sports-related injuries are related to head injuries, which are the primary cause of mortality and disability among skiers. Despite the widespread adoption of helmets in winter sports, which has reduced the incidence of direct head injury, there is a paradoxical trend of an increasing number of individuals wearing helmets sustaining diffuse axonal injuries (DAI), which can result in severe neurologic sequelae. We retrospectively reviewed 100 cases collected by the senior author of this work from 13 full winter seasons during the period from 1981 to 1993 and compared them with 17 patients admitted during the more shortened 2019 to 2020 ski season due to COVID-19. All data analyzed come from a single institution. Population characteristics, mechanism of injury, helmet use, need for surgical treatment, diagnosis, and outcome were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the two databases. From February 1981 to January 2020, most skiers with head injuries were men (76% for the 1981-1993 and 85% for 2020). The proportion of patients aged over 50 increased from <20% in 1981 to 65% in 2020 (p < 0.01), with a median age of 60 years (range: 22-83 years). Low- to medium-velocity injuries were identified in 76% (13) of cases during the 2019 to 2020 season against 38% (28/74) during the 1981 to 1993 seasons (p < 0.01). All injured patients during the 2020 season wore a helmet, whereas none of the patients between 1981 and 1993 wore one (p < 0.01). DAI was observed in six cases (35%) for the 2019 to 2020 season against nine cases (9%) for the 1981 to 1993 season (p < 0.01). Thirty-four percent (34) of patients during the 1981 to 1993 seasons and 18% (3) of patients during the 2019 to 2020 season suffered skeletal fractures (p = 0.02). Among the 100 patients of the 1981 to 1993 seasons, 13 (13%) died against 1 (6%) from the recent season during care at the hospital (p = 0.15). Neurosurgical intervention was performed in 30 (30%) and 2 (12%) patients for the 1981 to 1993 and 2019 to 2020 seasons, respectively (p = 0.003). Neuropsychological sequelae were reported in 17% (7/42) of patients from the 1981 to 1993 seasons and cognitive evaluation before discharge detected significant impairments in 24% (4/17) of the patients from the 2019 to 2020 season (p = 0.29). Helmet use among skiers sustaining head trauma has increased from none in the period from 1981 to 1993 to 100% during the 2019 to 2020 season, resulting in a reduction in the number of skull fractures and deaths. However, our observations suggest a marked shift in the type of intracranial injuries sustained, including a rise in the number of skiers experiencing DAI, sometimes with severe neurologic outcomes. The reasons for this paradoxical trend can only be speculated upon, leading to the question of whether the perceived benefits of helmet use in winter sports are actually misinterpreted.

Head Trauma Effect on Corneal Endothelial Cell Density in Eye Bank Donors 50 Years or Older

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of head trauma on corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) in eye bank donors 50 years or older. Methods: This is a retrospective study of 128 corneas from 67 donors 50 years or older with cause of death secondary to head trauma, gunshot wound to the head (n = 26), motor vehicle accident with head trauma (n = 33), a fall with sustained head trauma (n = 47), and non-head trauma–related deaths (n = 22). Corneal data were recovered from Saving Sight Eye Bank (Kansas City, MO) database between January 2018 and August 2021. Donor characteristics, ECD, and focal endothelial cell loss on specular microscopy were examined between groups. A linear mixed effects model and a mixed effects logistic regression were used to compare ECD and examine the association between head trauma and focal endothelial cell loss. Results: The average ECD in the head trauma group was 2471 ± 342 cells/mm2 and 2588 ± 282 cells/mm2 in the nonhead trauma group (P value = 0.24). After adjusting for age, death-to-preservation time, and pseudophakia, the ECD difference between the head trauma and nonhead trauma groups was −105 ± 112 cells/mm2 (P value = 0.35). The odds of having focal endothelial cell loss were not statistically significant (P value = 0.42) between the head trauma (odds = 0.93) and nonhead trauma (odds = 0.69) groups. Conclusions: There were no differences in ECD and focal endothelial cell loss between the head trauma and nonhead trauma groups in eye bank donors 50 years or older.

Loss of Consciousness and Righting Reflex Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Predictors of Post-Injury Symptom Development (A Narrative Review).

Identifying predictors for individuals vulnerable to the adverse effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains an ongoing research pursuit. This is especially important for patients with mild TBI (mTBI), whose condition is often overlooked. TBI severity in humans is determined by several criteria, including the duration of loss of consciousness (LOC): LOC < 30 min for mTBI and LOC > 30 min for moderate-to-severe TBI. However, in experimental TBI models, there is no standard guideline for assessing the severity of TBI. One commonly used metric is the loss of righting reflex (LRR), a rodent analogue of LOC. However, LRR is highly variable across studies and rodents, making strict numeric cutoffs difficult to define. Instead, LRR may best be used as predictor of symptom development and severity. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the associations between LOC and outcomes after mTBI in humans and between LRR and outcomes after experimental TBI in rodents. In clinical literature, LOC following mTBI is associated with various adverse outcome measures, such as cognitive and memory deficits; psychiatric disorders; physical symptoms; and brain abnormalities associated with the aforementioned impairments. In preclinical studies, longer LRR following TBI is associated with greater motor and sensorimotor impairments; cognitive and memory impairments; peripheral and neuropathology; and physiologic abnormalities. Because of the similarities in associations, LRR in experimental TBI models may serve as a useful proxy for LOC to contribute to the ongoing development of evidence-based personalized treatment strategies for patients sustaining head trauma. Analysis of highly symptomatic rodents may shed light on the biological underpinnings of symptom development after rodent TBI, which may translate to therapeutic targets for mTBI in humans.

Artificial Intelligence Model Trained with Sparse Data to Detect Facial and Cranial Bone Fractures from Head CT.

The presence of cranial and facial bone fractures is an important finding on non-enhanced head computed tomography (CT) scans from patients who have sustained head trauma. Some prior studies have proposed automatic cranial fracture detections, but studies on facial fractures are lacking. We propose a deep learning system to automatically detect both cranial and facial bone fractures. Our system incorporated models consisting of YOLOv4 for one-stage fracture detection and improved ResUNet (ResUNet++) for the segmentation of cranial and facial bones. The results from the two models mapped together provided the location of the fracture and the name of the fractured bone as the final output. The training data for the detection model were the soft tissue algorithm images from a total of 1,447 head CT studies (a total of 16,985 images), and the training data for the segmentation model included 1,538 selected head CT images. The trained models were tested on a test dataset consisting of 192 head CT studies (a total of 5,890 images). The overall performance achieved a sensitivity of 88.66%, a precision of 94.51%, and an F1 score of 0.9149. Specifically, the cranial and facial regions were evaluated and resulted in a sensitivity of 84.78% and 80.77%, a precision of 92.86% and 87.50%, and F1 scores of 0.8864 and 0.8400, respectively. The average accuracy for the segmentation labels concerning all predicted fracture bounding boxes was 80.90%. Our deep learning system could accurately detect cranial and facial bone fractures and identify the fractured bone region simultaneously.

Paroxysmal AV Block

A 69 year old woman with a history of congestive heart failure and stroke presented to the emergency room with sudden onset lightheadedness leading to a fall at the grocery store and sustaining head trauma. On physical examination, she was alert and in mild distress. Her HR was 72 beats per minute and blood pressure was 196/70. A 12 lead electrocardiogram (ECG) showed normal sinus rhythm, first degree atrioventricular (AV) block and right bundle branch block. She was admitted for management of subdural hematoma which was noted on CT scan. A few hours later, patient experienced multiple episodes of long pauses leading to syncopal episodes in bed. A 12 lead ECG was obtained and is shown in Figure 1.

Effect of Head Trauma-Related Deaths on Corneal Endothelial Cell Loss in Eye Bank Donors.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of head trauma-related deaths on corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) in eye bank donors. This is a retrospective study of 287 corneas from donors with causes of death secondary to motor vehicle accident with sustained head trauma (n = 50), gunshot wound to the head (n = 138), fall with sustained head trauma (n = 2), and non-head-related traumatic causes of death (n = 97). Donors older than age 50 years were excluded due to concern for undiagnosed Fuchs endothelial dystrophy as a potential confounder for the cause of endothelial cell loss. Donor characteristics, ECD, and focal endothelial cell loss on specular microscopy were compared between the groups. Donors in the head trauma and nonhead trauma groups were matched by age; there were 42 age-matched donors in both groups. Age and ECD were negatively correlated (Pearson correlation coefficient = -0.57). Death-to-preservation time was not significantly different between the 2 groups ( P value = 0.59). The mean ECD in the head trauma group was 2859 ± 370 cells/mm 2 and 3041 ± 464 cells/mm 2 in the nonhead trauma group. The head trauma group had a lower ECD (178 ± 70 cells/mm 2 , P value = 0.013). After matching for age, the difference in ECD between the 2 groups was -94 ± 82 cells/mm 2 ( P value = 0.26). The adjusted odds of having focal endothelial cell loss was not statistically significant ( P value = 0.50) between the groups. After statistical adjustments, there were no differences between the head trauma and nonhead trauma groups.

LBSAT291 Familial Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract Introduction Familial papillary thyroid carcinoma is a rare entity; however, it must be considered if a strong family history of non medullary thyroid carcinoma is noted. As this cancer presents earlier and with more aggressive features with each subsequent generation, a targeted diagnostic and management approach should be utilized. Case Presentation A 26 year old female presented to the PCP after sustaining head trauma while kickboxing. During the visit, she requested for thyroid evaluation due to a strong family history of thyroid cancer in her mother, maternal aunt, maternal uncle and maternal grandfather. She reported that her mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 40 years; however, she was unaware of further details. She denied any personal history of cancer or exposure to radiation. An extensive review of systems was negative. TSH was within the normal range 2.65 uIU/ml (0.40 - 4. 0). Thyroid ultrasound showed a 1.1 cm nodule in the right thyroid lobe with microcalcifications suspicious for malignancy. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the nodule confirmed papillary thyroid carcinoma. A preoperative CT neck and soft tissue was negative for cervical lymphadenopathy per size criteria. She underwent a total thyroidectomy with neck dissection. Surgical pathology report showed 1.8 cm right thyroid lobe papillary carcinoma and 13 lymph nodes positive for metastatic carcinoma, the largest measuring 0.4 cm. Post-operatively, she underwent radio-active iodide therapy and was started on Levothyroxine supplementation. She was closely monitored with serial thyroid function tests, thyroglobulin levels and thyroid ultrasound examinations. Tempus XT positive for BRAF and FOXP1. Approximately one year after the surgery, serum thyroglobulin levels started to plateau. A surveillance thyroid ultrasound was concerning for left lobe thyroid tissue remnant/cancer. Thus, a radio-active iodine total body scan was planned to locate the remnant thyroid tissue followed by biopsy and excision in case of recurrent cancer. Discussion Papillary thyroid cancer runs in families and becomes more aggressive with each subsequent generation. The American Thyroid Association guidelines detail that screening with thyroid ultrasound should be considered in families with three or more family members affected by familial non medullary thyroid cancer. In addition, certain mutations such as the BRAF mutation are associated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and high tumor recurrence. There is limited data available on the FOXP1; however, it may also be linked to an aggressive course. Therefore, screening ultrasound should be offered in such patients and FNAC samples should be sent for genetic analysis to help formulate an appropriate treatment plan. These patients benefit from receiving early screening, more intensive management and frequent follow up. Presentation: Saturday, June 11, 2022 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Atypical Presentation of Traumatic Pediatric Carotid Artery Dissection: A Case Report.

IntroductionCarotid artery dissection is a rare but serious condition manifesting with signs and symptoms that closely overlap with other more benign medical diagnoses. This vascular injury, however, can result in debilitating sequelae, including thromboembolic cerebrovascular accidents.Case ReportWe describe the atypical presentation of a healthy eight-year-old male who presented to the emergency department (ED) with generalized abdominal pain and non-bloody, non-bilious emesis. These symptoms occurred nine days after he sustained blunt head trauma after a non-syncopal fall from standing while playing hockey. He was initially diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease and constipation and was discharged home. The following day he developed an acute headache followed shortly by gait ataxia, prompting a return visit to the ED. Imaging of the head and neck revealed a left internal carotid artery dissection. The patient was started on intravenous unfractionated heparin and admitted to the hospital. He was later discharged symptom-free on therapeutic enoxaparin for eight weeks, followed by daily aspirin therapy.ConclusionPediatric trauma patients, especially those sustaining insult to the head and cervical spine, are at risk for craniocervical arterial injuries. This rare but dangerous pathology often manifests in a non-specific, delayed fashion making it a challenging diagnosis for physicians to make on the initial medical encounter.1,2 Maintaining a high clinical suspicion for carotid artery dissection is required to make this diagnosis and should guide a thorough history, physical examination, and appropriate imaging in order to improve patient morbidity and mortality. This case emphasizes key clinical features and risk factors of this disease that may help emergency clinicians promptly recognize and treat this entity.

Time from hospital presentation to head imaging in White, Black, and Hispanic geriatric trauma patients

BackgroundHealth care disparities have been shown to negatively affect non-White people sustaining traumas, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. One possible explanation could be delays in emergent medical care. This study aims to assess if a disparity between races exists amongst acutely head-injured geriatric patients, as evidenced by the time it takes from emergency department (ED) presentation to performance of head computerized tomography (CT) imaging. MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted from August 15, 2019 to August 14, 2020 at the two trauma centers in a south Florida county covering 1.5 million residents. Patients aged ≥ 65 years who sustained a head injury were identified daily. Patients who had a head injury >24 h prior, sustained penetrating trauma, or were transferred from another hospital were excluded. The primary outcome was time measured between ED presentation and CT head performance. Patients were grouped by race as selected from White, Black, Hispanic, and other. Comparisons were made using ANOVA analysis. Results4878 patients were included. 90% were White. The mean times to CT head were 90.3 min for White patients, 98.1 min for Black patients, and 86.6 min for Hispanic patients. There was a significant difference comparing time to CT between the three groups (F = 2.892, p = 0.034). Comparing each group to a combined others, there were no significant differences for White vs non-White (90.3 vs 91.3, F = 0.154, p = 0.695) or Hispanic vs non-Hispanic (86.6 vs 90.5, F = 0.918, p = 0.338); however Black vs non-Black (98.1 vs 89.9, F = 4.828, p = 0.028) was significant. ConclusionsGeriatric Black patients who sustained head trauma were found to have a longer time from ED presentation to performance of head CT than their non-Black counterparts.

Routine Repeat Imaging Is Unnecessary for Coagulopathic Patients Sustaining Head Trauma

In trauma patients using warfarin, current guidelines recommend computed tomography of the brain (CTH), 24-hour observation, and repeat CTH to monitor for stability. Despite growing evidence of uncommon delayed hemorrhage, this remains standard practice even in mild traumatic brain injury without intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Our study sought to determine the incidence and outcomes of delayed ICH (DICH) in trauma patients on supra-therapeutic warfarin without initial ICH. A retrospective, single institutional study was performed of all adult trauma patients (>18years old) who presented on prehospital warfarin with an international normalized ratio (INR) >3 and initial CTH that did not demonstrate ICH. Each of these patients underwent subsequent CTH within 24hours and any DICH was identified. Those who demonstrated DICH were further examined to identify potential risk factors and outcomes such as need for further imaging or surgical intervention. Analyses were performed using Fisher's exact tests and Student's t-tests. 225 patients were identified from January 2015 to April 2021 that met inclusion criteria. Of those identified, only 3 (1.33%) were found to develop any DICH on routine repeat CTH. Identified characteristics did not reach statistical significance due to the low number of DICH. None of the patients with DICH went on to require intervention. In patients with identified traumatic injury on supra-therapeutic warfarin, an initial CTH without identified ICH alone is an adequate survey. DICH in these patients is uncommon and routine reimaging within 24hours is unlikely to change clinical management in patients with intact neurologic status.

Retinal Findings in Young Children With Increased Intracranial Pressure From Nontraumatic Causes.

Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) has been suggested in legal settings as an alternative cause of retinal hemorrhages (RHs) in young children who may have sustained abusive head trauma. We assessed the prevalence and characteristics of RHs in children with increased ICP. We conducted a prospective, multicenter study of children <4 years old with newly diagnosed increased ICP as determined by using direct measurement and/or clinical criteria. Infants who were premature, neonates, and suspected survivors of abusive head trauma were excluded on the basis of nonocular findings. Fundus examinations were performed; extent, number, and type of RH in each of 4 distinct retinal zones were recorded. Fifty-six children (27 boys) were studied (mean age 15.4 months; range 1-43 months). All of the children had elevated ICP that required intervention. One child had papilledema. No child (0%; 95% confidence interval: 0%-6.4%) or eye (0%; 95% confidence interval: 0%-3.3%) was found to have an RH. Causes of increased ICP included hydrocephalus, intraventricular hemorrhage, congenital malformations, malfunctioning shunts, and the presence of intracranial space-occupying lesions. Although acute increased ICP can present in children with a pattern of peripapillary superficial RHs in the presence of papilledema, our study supports the conclusion that RHs rarely occur in the absence of optic disc swelling and do not present beyond the peripapillary area in the entities we have studied.

GENETIC INFLUENCE ON NEUROANATOMIC DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN CHILDHOOD AND ADULTHOOD

Health care disparities have been shown to negatively affect non-White people sustaining traumas, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. One possible explanation could be delays in emergent medical care. This study aims to assess if a disparity between races exists amongst acutely head-injured geriatric patients, as evidenced by the time it takes from emergency department (ED) presentation to performance of head computerized tomography (CT) imaging.A prospective cohort study was conducted from August 15, 2019 to August 14, 2020 at the two trauma centers in a south Florida county covering 1.5 million residents. Patients aged ≥ 65 years who sustained a head injury were identified daily. Patients who had a head injury >24 h prior, sustained penetrating trauma, or were transferred from another hospital were excluded. The primary outcome was time measured between ED presentation and CT head performance. Patients were grouped by race as selected from White, Black, Hispanic, and other. Comparisons were made using ANOVA analysis.4878 patients were included. 90% were White. The mean times to CT head were 90.3 min for White patients, 98.1 min for Black patients, and 86.6 min for Hispanic patients. There was a significant difference comparing time to CT between the three groups (F = 2.892, p = 0.034). Comparing each group to a combined others, there were no significant differences for White vs non-White (90.3 vs 91.3, F = 0.154, p = 0.695) or Hispanic vs non-Hispanic (86.6 vs 90.5, F = 0.918, p = 0.338); however Black vs non-Black (98.1 vs 89.9, F = 4.828, p = 0.028) was significant.Geriatric Black patients who sustained head trauma were found to have a longer time from ED presentation to performance of head CT than their non-Black counterparts.

Motocross Injuries in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients.

Motocross is a popular sport in which participants ride a two-wheeled, motorized vehicle on an uneven 2-km track with natural or human-made obstacles. Participants compete at high rates of speed, and children as young as age 4 years compete in age-appropriate groups. Motocross is recognized as a strenuous sport with a high accident rate. Most injuries are musculoskeletal in nature. The most commonly injured areas are the forearm, clavicle, femur, and tibia. Many injuries require surgical treatment. Some patients sustain head trauma with loss of consciousness. Children should have age-appropriate training before participation is allowed. Adult supervision should occur at all times. Appropriate helmet fitting with assistance from an expert is associated with a decreased risk of concussion symptoms. Parents and coaches need to weigh the benefits of participation with the frequency of injuries, missed academic time, and the cost of medical treatment.

Traumatic brain injury, diabetic neuropathy and altered-psychiatric health: The fateful triangle

Traumatic brain injury is a detrimental medical condition particularly when accompanied by diabetes. There are several comorbidities going along with diabetes including, but not limited to, kidney failure, obesity, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, stroke, neuropathies and amputations. Unlike diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2 is more common in adults who simultaneously suffer from other comorbid conditions making them susceptible to repetitive fall incidents and sustaining head trauma. The resulting brain insult exacerbates current psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety, which, in turn, increases the risk of sustaining further brain traumas. The relationship between diabetes, traumatic brain injury and psychiatric health constitutes a triad forming a non-reversible vicious cycle. At the proteomic and psychiatric levels, cellular, molecular and behavioral alterations have been reported with the induction of non-traumatic brain injury in diabetic models such as stroke. However, research into traumatic brain injury has not been systematically investigated. Thus, in cases of diabetic neuropathy complicated with traumatic brain injury, utilizing fine structural and analytical techniques allows the identification of key biological markers that can then be used as innovative diagnostics as well as novel therapeutic targets in an attempt to treat diabetes and its sequelae especially those arising from repetitive mild brain trauma.

Assault in children admitted to trauma centers: Injury patterns and outcomes from a 5-year review of the national trauma data bank

ImportanceWhile assault is commonly reported or suspected in children with traumatic wounds, a recent overview of these injuries, especially those requiring trauma surgery consultation is lacking in the literature. ObjectivesExplore the incidence, demographics and injury patterns of children presenting to trauma centers following an assault. DesignRetrospective review of the National Trauma Data Bank 2007 to 2011. Setting and participantsSubjects up to 18 years old with “assault” reported as the intent of injury. Patients were divided into infants (<2 years), young children (2–5 years), children (6–11 years), and adolescents (12–18 years). Main outcomes and measuresMechanism of injury, injury severity and mortality based on age groups and race. ResultsOf 609,207 children, 58,299 (9.6%) were victims of an assault. The median age was 16 years and 81% were male, with a median injury severity score (ISS) of 8. The majority of patients were adolescents (76%), followed by infants (17%) and young children (4%). There was a stepwise increase in the proportion of assaulted Black children with increasing age (23.2% for infants and up to 46.7% for adolescents, trend p < 0.01, effect size: 0.175) while the opposite applied for White children (46.0% for infants and down to 19.5% for adolescents, trend p < 0.01, effect size: −0.230). With increasing age, White subjects had the highest trend of being assaulted during an unarmed fight or brawl (p < 0.01, effect size: 0.393), while for Black victims the highest trend was noted for assault with a firearm (p < 0.01, effect size: 0.323). Almost 2 out of 3 infants sustained severe head trauma (59%). The overall mortality was 8%, highest among young children, where it reached 16% (p < 0.01). ConclusionsUp to 10% of children admitted following trauma are victims of assault with traumatic brain injuries predominant in infants and firearm injuries predominant in adolescents. Injury patterns largely correlate to age and race. Assault in children is associated with a high mortality risk. These data highlight the magnitude of the problem and calls for further involvement of trauma surgeons to improve outcomes, bring awareness and promote preventative strategies to eliminate assault in children.

Pathological vascular and inflammatory biomarkers of acute- and chronic-phase traumatic brain injury.

Given the demand for developing objective methods for characterizing traumatic brain injury (TBI), research dedicated to evaluating putative biomarkers has burgeoned over the past decade. Since it is critical to elucidate the underlying pathological processes that underlie the higher diverse outcomes that follow neurotrauma, considerable efforts have been aimed at identifying biomarkers of both the acute- and chronic-phase TBI. Such information is not only critical for helping to elucidate the pathological changes that lead to poor long-term outcomes following TBI but it may also assist in the identification of possible prevention and interventions for individuals who sustain head trauma. In the current review, we discuss the potential role of vascular dysfunction and chronic inflammation in both acute- and chronic-phase TBI, and we also highlight existing studies that have investigated inflammation biomarkers associated with poorer injury outcome.

Vitamin K, fresh frozen plasma, and platelet transfusion used to arrest progression of intracranial hemorrhage after traumatic brain injury in a patient taking anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents

An 89-year-old man fell from stairs and sustained head trauma. He was taking warfarin and aspirin. Upon arrival at our hospital, his Glasgow Coma Scale score was 14. Initial head computed tomography showed small acute subdural hematoma. We immediately administered vitamin K and ordered fresh-frozen plasma. Repeat computed tomography 3 and 6 h after trauma revealed the acute subdural hematoma had increased to 14 and 20 mm, respectively, and there were several new intracranial hemorrhages. Fresh-frozen plasma and platelet transfusion were initiated. Follow-up computed tomography revealed no further progression of intracranial hemorrhages, and the patient's consciousness did not deteriorate further. Appropriate administration of vitamin K, fresh-frozen plasma, and platelets successfully arrested progression of traumatic intracranial hemorrhages in this patient taking anticoagulant/antiplatelet agents and may have averted brain surgery.

Children With Arachnoid Cysts Who Sustain Blunt Head Trauma: Injury Mechanisms and Outcomes.

Arachnoid cysts are abnormal intracranial fluid collections, and there is concern that these cysts may bleed or rupture following blunt head trauma. Our objective was to determine the risk of cyst-related complications in a cohort of children with arachnoid cysts who were evaluated for head trauma. We analyzed the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) head trauma public use data set, which was the product of a study that enrolled children with blunt head trauma from June 2004 to September 2006. We identified children with arachnoid cysts on cranial computed tomography (CT) and described the patient demographics, mechanisms of injury, clinical presentations, CT evidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and clinical outcomes. Clinically important TBI was defined as TBI leading to: 1) death from TBI, 2) neurosurgical intervention, 3) intubation for > 24 hours for the TBI, or 4) hospitalization for 2 or more nights for the head injury in association with TBI on CT. Data were available for 43,399 children who sustained blunt head trauma, of whom 15,899 had cranial CT scans obtained and 68 (0.4%) had arachnoid cysts. Falls were the most common mechanisms of injury (47%) and 87% of children had either moderate or severe injury mechanisms. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores ranged from 6 to 15, with 61 (90%) having GCS scores of 15. Two of the children with arachnoid cysts had TBIs on CT, one of which was clinically important. There were no identified cases of arachnoid cyst-related bleeding or complications. In this cohort of 68 children with arachnoid cysts who sustained head trauma, none demonstrated cyst-related bleeding or complications. This suggests the risk of arachnoid cyst-related complications in children following blunt head trauma is low and evaluation should align with existing clinical decision rules.

Iatrogenic intracranial placement of nasopharyngeal airway after trauma

CT images of an 18-year-old woman who had sustained head trauma after a motor vehicle accident are presented demonstrating the iatrogenic intracranial placement of a nasopharyngeal airway. Treatment required a decompressive craniectomy, removal of the nasopharyngeal airway under direct vision, and duraplasty. The patient made a good neurological recovery, but did require ongoing medical treatment for diabetes insipidus. The case illustrates the importance of avoiding intranasal placement of any object in a patient with head trauma and suspected skull base fractures prior to diagnostic imaging.