Search results for "brain injuries"

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Val66Met) polymorphism does not influence recovery from a post-traumatic vegetative state: a blinded retrospective…

2012

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that influences neuronal plasticity throughout life. Emergence from a vegetative state (VS) after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) implies that the brain undergoes plastic changes. A common polymorphism in the BDNF gene—BDNF Val66Met (referred to herein as BDNFMet)—impairs cognitive function in healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to determine whether the BDNFMet polymorphism plays a role in the recovery of consciousness and cognitive functions in patients in a VS after a TBI. Fifty-three patients in a VS 1 month after a TBI were included in the study and genotyped for the BDNFMet polymorphism. Scores of levels of cognitive fun…

Auditory and Cognitive Deficits Associated with Acquired Amusia after Stroke: A Magnetoencephalography and Neuropsychological Follow-Up Study

2010

Acquired amusia is a common disorder after damage to the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory. However, its neurocognitive mechanisms, especially the relative contribution of perceptual and cognitive factors, are still unclear. We studied cognitive and auditory processing in the amusic brain by performing neuropsychological testing as well as magnetoencephalography (MEG) measurements of frequency and duration discrimination using magnetic mismatch negativity (MMNm) recordings. Fifty-three patients with a left (n = 24) or right (n = 29) hemisphere MCA stroke (MRI verified) were investigated 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months after the stroke. Amusia was evaluated using the Montreal Battery of …

The Blood–Brain Barrier as a Target in Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

2014

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most frequent causes of death in the young population. Several clinical trials have unsuccessfully focused on direct neuroprotective therapies. Recently immunotherapeutic strategies shifted into focus of translational research in acute CNS diseases. Cross-talk between activated microglia and blood–brain barrier (BBB) could initiate opening of the BBB and subsequent recruitment of systemic immune cells and mediators into the brain. Stabilization of the BBB after TBI could be a promising strategy to limit neuronal inflammation, secondary brain damage and acute neurodegeneration. This review provides an overview on the pathophysiology of TBI and brain…

A Decision-Tree Approach to Assist in Forecasting the Outcomes of the Neonatal Brain Injury

2021

Neonatal brain injury or neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a significant morbidity and mortality factor in preterm and full-term newborns. NE has an incidence in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 per 1000 live births carrying a considerable burden for neurological outcomes such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, cognitive impairments, and hydrocephaly. Many scoring systems based on different risk factor combinations in regression models have been proposed to predict abnormal outcomes. Birthweight, gestational age, Apgar scores, pH, ultrasound and MRI biomarkers, seizures onset, EEG pattern, and seizure duration were the most referred predictors in the literature. Our study proposes a decision-tree approach b…

Systemic PaO2 oscillations cause mild brain injury in a pig model

2016

OBJECTIVE: Systemic PaO2 oscillations occur during cyclic recruitment and derecruitment of atelectasis in acute respiratory failure and might harm brain tissue integrity. DESIGN: Controlled animal study. SETTING: University research laboratory. SUBJECTS: Adult anesthetized pigs. INTERVENTIONS: Pigs were randomized to a control group (anesthesia and extracorporeal circulation for 20 hr with constant PaO2, n = 10) or an oscillation group (anesthesia and extracorporeal circulation for 20 hr with artificial PaO2 oscillations [3 cycles min⁻¹], n = 10). Five additional animals served as native group (n = 5). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Outcome following exposure to artificial PaO2 oscillations…

Reply to Chousterman et al.: Delaying Renal Replacement Therapy Could Be Harmful in Patients with Acute Brain Injury

2019

Therapeutic Approaches for Cerebrovascular Dysfunction After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: An Update and Future Perspectives

2022

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a severe subtype of stroke occurring at a relatively young age with a significant socioeconomic impact. Treatment of aSAH includes early aneurysm exclusion, intensive care management, and prevention of complications. Once the aneurysm rupture occurs, blood spreading within the subarachnoid space triggers several molecular pathways causing early brain injury and delayed cerebral ischemia. Pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying brain injury after aSAH are not entirely characterized, reflecting the difficulties in identifying effective therapeutic targets for patients with aSAH. Although the improvements of the last decades in perioperative manageme…

Studies of selective TNF inhibitors in the treatment of brain injury from stroke and trauma: a review of the evidence to date

2014

Antonino Tuttolomondo, Rosaria Pecoraro, Antonio Pinto Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialistic Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy Abstract: The brain is very actively involved in immune-inflammatory processes, and the response to several trigger factors such as trauma, hemorrhage, or ischemia causes the release of active inflammatory substances such as cytokines, which are the basis of second-level damage. During brain ischemia and after brain trauma, the intrinsic inflammatory mechanisms of the brain, as well as those of the blood, are mediated by leukocytes that communicate with each other through cytokines. A neuroinflammatory cascade has been reported to be activ…

Neuroprotective properties of xenon and helium in an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury: one small step or one big jump?

2008

Update on mechanism and therapeutic implications of spinal cord stimulation and cerebral hemodynamics: A narrative review

2017

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is well known for its early role in the management of chronic pain, mainly failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), spasticity, and bowel and bladder dysfunction. In more recent years, SCS has been proposed for patients suffering from refractory angina or peripheral vasculopathies in order to gain symptom relief, thus indicating some hemodynamic effect on the peripheral circulation. Taking into account this scientific observation, since the late1980s, researchers have started to investigate the potential effect of SCS on cerebral blood flow (CBF) regulation and its possible application in certain pathological settings dealing with vascular pattern dysfunction, such…