Predictors for Depressive Mood in Geriatric Patients After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors for depressive mood in geriatric patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: A retrospective review of patients' medical charts was performed in TBI patients who were older than 60 years and referred to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Severance Hospital in 2002–2016. The patients were classified into two groups based on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS): non-depressive group (0≤GDS≤16) and depressive group (17≤GDS≤30). Data was collected on demographic, socioeconomic, comorbidities, and trauma-related factors, as well as the pathophysiology of TBI, localization of lesion, post-traumatic complications, functional level, and cognitive and linguistic function. Significant variables from univariate analysis were analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were included, of whom 64.3% displayed a depressive mood. Patients in the depressive group had higher comorbidity scores (p=0.03), lower Functional Independence Measure (FIM) totals (p=0.03) and FIM motor (p=0.03) scores, higher modified Rankin Scale scores (p=0.04), and frequently had a bilateral or left side brain lesion (p=0.002). Higher comorbidity scores (odds ratio [OR], 1.764; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.047–2.971), bilateral lesions (OR, 13.078; 95% CI, 1.786–95.780), and left side lesions (OR, 46.074; 95% CI, 3.175–668.502) were independently associated with a depressive mood in the multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The risk of depressive mood in geriatric patients after TBI is associated with comorbidity, functional limitation, and the horizontal distribution of brain lesions. The most significant determining factors were comorbidity and the horizontal distribution of brain lesions. Early detection of risk factors is important to prevent and manage depressive mood in geriatric patients after TBI.

Prediction of Neurological Recovery in Patients with Hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy

The incidence of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is not well known, however, the common causes of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy are sudden cardiac arrest, acute respiratory failure and carbon monoxide poisoning. Due to high metabolic demand, the brain is very susceptible to damage from deprivation of blood supply and oxygen delivery. When patients recover from comatose after HIE, there are various spectrums of neurological outcomes, ranging from vegetative state to good recovery. Various methods including neurologic examination, neurophysiologic and biochemical tools, neuroimaging technique have been proposed for the prognostic evaluation of HIE. This article reviews the pathophysiology of HIE and predictive methods for neurological recovery after HIE.