Early cerebral circulation disturbance in patients suffering from different types of severe traumatic brain injury: a xenon CT and perfusion CT study.

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is widely known to cause dynamic changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF). In particular, secondary brain insults have been reported to decrease CBF. The purpose of this study was to clarify the cerebral circulation in different types of TBI. METHODS: Sixty-nine patients with TBI were divided into four groups, the subdural hematoma group, the contusion/intracerebral hematoma group, the diffuse axonal injury group, and the diffuse brain swelling group. In these patients, we simultaneously performed Xe-CT and perfusion CT to evaluate the cerebral circulation on post-injury days 1-3. We measured CBF using Xe-CT and mean transit time using perfusion CT and calculated the cerebral blood volume using the AZ-7000 W98 computer system. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the Glasgow Coma Scale score on arrival or the Glasgow Outcome Scale score between the groups. The patients who had suffered focal TBI displayed more significant cerebral circulation disturbances than those that had suffered diffuse TBI. We were able to evaluate the cerebral circulation of TBI patients using these parameters. CONCLUSION: Moderate hypothermia therapy, which decreases CBF, the cerebral metabolic rate oxygen consumption (CMRO2), and intracranial pressure might be effective against the types of TBI accompanied by cerebral circulation disturbance. We have to use all possible measures including hypothermia therapy to treat severe TBI patients according to the type of TBI that they have suffered.

The study of systemic general circulation disturbance during the initiation of therapeutic hypothermia: Pit fall of hypothermia.

AIMS: Neurointensive care has reduced the mortality and improved the outcome of patients for severe brain damage, over recent decades, and made it possible to perform this therapy in safety. However, we have to understand the complications of this therapy well. The purpose of our study was to determine the systemic circulation disturbance during the initiation of therapeutic hypothermia by using this continuous neurointensive monitoring system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten severe brain damage patients treated with hypothermia were enrolled. All patients had Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) less than or equal to 8, on admission. RESULTS: We verified that heart rate, cardiac output, and oxygen delivery index (DO2I) decreased with decreasing core temperature. We recognized that depressed cardiac index (CI) was attributed to bradycardia, dehydration, and increased systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) upon initiation of hypothermia. CONCLUSION: Although the hypothermia has a therapeutic role in severe brain damage patients, we have to carry out this therapy while maintaining their cardiac output using multimodality monitoring devices during hypothermia period.

Early cerebral circulatory disturbance in patients suffering subarachnoid hemorrhage prior to the delayed cerebral vasospasm stage: xenon computed tomography and perfusion computed tomography study.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) causes dynamic changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF), and results in delayed ischemia due to vasospasm, and early perfusion deficits before delayed cerebral vasospasm (CVS). The present study examined the severity of cerebral circulatory disturbance during the early phase before delayed CVS and whether it can be used to predict patient outcome. A total of 94 patients with SAH underwent simultaneous xenon computed tomography (CT) and perfusion CT to evaluate cerebral circulation on Days 1-3. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured using xenon CT and the mean transit time (MTT) using perfusion CT and calculated cerebral blood volume (CBV). Outcome was evaluated with the Glasgow Outcome Scale (good recovery [GR], moderate disability [MD], severe disability [SD], vegetative state [VS], or death [D]). Hunt and Hess (HH) grade II patients displayed significantly higher CBF and lower MTT than HH grade IV and V patients. HH grade III patients displayed significantly higher CBF and lower MTT than HH grade IV and V patients. Patients with favorable outcome (GR or MD) had significantly higher CBF and lower MTT than those with unfavorable outcome (SD, VS, or D). Discriminant analysis of these parameters could predict patient outcome with a probability of 74.5%. Higher HH grade on admission was associated with decreased CBF and CBV and prolonged MTT. CBF reduction and MTT prolongation before the onset of delayed CVS might influence the clinical outcome of SAH. These parameters are helpful for evaluating the severity of SAH and predicting the outcomes of SAH patients.

Ruptured fusiform aneurysm of the proximal anterior cerebral artery (A1 segment).

A 42-year-old man presented with a ruptured fusiform aneurysm of the proximal anterior cerebral artery (A(1) segment) manifesting as sudden onset of severe headache. Brain computed tomography revealed subarachnoid hemorrhage in the basal cisterns, and left carotid angiography demonstrated a fusiform aneurysm of the left A(1) segment. He underwent surgery via the left pterional approach. The left A(1) segment exhibited a fusiform configuration. Adequate development of the anterior communicating artery was confirmed. Trapping of the aneurysm was performed. The aneurysm was associated with atherosclerotic changes. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged without neurological deficits 1 month after surgery. Fusiform aneurysm of the A(1) segment is quite rare, and tends to bleed, so must be treated. The atherosclerotic origin indicates long-term follow up to identify subsequent lesions.

Head trauma in female professional wrestlers.

The clinical characteristics of head trauma were evaluated in 18 wrestlers belonging to a female professional wrestling organization, 13 regular members and five trainees aged 15-34 years. Medical examinations for head trauma were performed in all wrestlers, and wrestlers treated at our emergency outpatient department were clinically evaluated. In addition, the relationships of head trauma with duration of the wrestling career of 1-16 years (mean 8 years) in the regular members, and less than 1 year in the five trainees, and body mass index (BMI) of 21.0-32.0 in the 16 subjects, excluding two trainees, was evaluated. Chronic symptoms were noted in four of the 18 wrestlers with long wrestling careers (16 years in 1, 13 years in 1, and 5 years in 2). Three wrestlers with symptoms immediately after head trauma showed recurrent retrograde amnesia and had low BMI (21.6, 21.6, and 23.1). Five wrestlers were treated at our emergency outpatient clinic, three required hospitalization and two showed intracranial traumatic changes on computed tomography (acute subdural hematoma in 1 and diffuse brain swelling in 1). Head trauma in female professional wrestlers is associated with longer wrestling career and low BMI. Periodic medical examinations are recommended to monitor for signs of head trauma.

[A rare massive parenchymal metastasis in central nervous system from abdominal non-Hodgkin lymphoma: effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgey: case report].

A 62-year-old female presented with a rare massive parenchymatous metastasis from abdominal malignant lymphoma. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance image revealed a large enhanced mass in the right basal ganglia. 123I-IMP SPECT showed increased uptake on both early and delayed images. A stereotactic biopsy was performed; histological examination revealed a diffuse large B-cell malignant lymphoma. The patient underwent stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Short-term cliniconeuroradiological follow-up showed both neurologic improvement and virtually complete disappearance of the tumor. Our findings suggest that 123I-IMP SPECT can help differentiate malignant lymphoma from benign lesions and other malignant brain tumors. In addition, SRS with conventional radiotherapy may be an effective therapeutic strategy to control malignant lymphoma.

[Predicting of the period of recurrent for a post-operative glioblastoma after radiochemotherapy using 201TlCl SPECT].

After radiochemotherapy for a post-operative glioblastoma multiforme (GB), the majority of patients return at a later date with a recurrent. To assess whether 201TlCl uptake can be used as a prognostic indicator in patients with GB, we measured the ratio of 201TlCl uptake in tumor to 201TlCl uptake in normal brain (TL index) in 10 patients at the end of radiochemotherapy and followed all the patients until they returned with a recurrent. The TL indices at the end of radiochemotherapy indicated 1.36 to 6.82 (mean +/- SD; 3.59 +/- 1.84), and the terms of tumor recurrent were 3-12 months (5.55 +/- 3.10 month). There was a significant negative correlation between the TL indices and the terms of tumor recurrent (y = -1.28x + 10.14, r = 0.760, p < 0.01). Especially, three cases indicated less than 2.0 did not returned with a recurrent in 8 months and 7 cases more than 2.0 returned with a recurrent in 5 months. This study resulted that 201TlCl SPECT was clinically useful to predict the period of recurrent for GB.