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Treatment with moderate, systemic hypothermia reduces the rates of cerebral edema and death after injury to the cerebral cortex in laboratory animals. 1 – 4 The results of early studies of hypothermia in humans with brain injury were inconclusive. 5 – 9 Subsequent testing established 32°C as the safe limit for hypothermia in humans with brain injury. 10 In two 1993 reports of trials in patients with brain injury, moderate hypothermia maintained for 48 11 and 24 12 hours resulted in a 15 percent and an 18 percent increase (i.e., difference between the hypothermia and normothermia groups), respectively, in the percentage of patients who had a favorable . . .

Background Due to the lack of high-quality evidence which has hindered the development of evidence-based guidelines, there is a need to provide general guidance on cranioplasty (CP) following traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well as identify areas of ongoing uncertainty via a consensus-based approach. Methods The international consensus meeting on post-traumatic CP was held during the International Conference on Recent Advances in Neurotraumatology (ICRAN), in Naples, Italy, in June 2018. This meeting was endorsed by the Neurotrauma Committee of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS), the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Neurotrauma, and several other neurotrauma organizations. Discussions and voting were organized around 5 pre-specified themes: (1) indications and technique, (2) materials, (3) timing, (4) hydrocephalus, and (5) paediatric CP. Results The participants discussed published evidence on each topic and proposed consensus statements, which were subject to ratification using anonymous real-time voting. Statements required an agreement threshold of more than 70% for inclusion in the final recommendations. Conclusions This document is the first set of practical consensus-based clinical recommendations on post-traumatic CP, focusing on timing, materials, complications, and surgical procedures. Future research directions are also presented.

Purpose Elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) has been associated with increased mortality in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). We have examined whether raised ICP is independently associated with mortality, functional status and neuropsychological functioning in adult TBI patients. Methods Data from a randomized trial of 499 participants were secondarily analyzed. The primary endpoints were mortality and a composite measure of functional status and neuropsychological function (memory, speed of information processing, executive function) over a 6-month period. The area under the curve of the ICP profile (average ICP) during the first 48 h of monitoring was the main predictor of interest. Multivariable regression was used to adjust for a priori defined confounders: age, Glasgow Coma Score, Abbreviated Injury Scale–head and hypoxia. Results Of the participants, 365 patients had complete 48-h ICP data. The overall 6-month mortality was 18 %. The adjusted odds ratio of mortality comparing 10-mmHg increases in average ICP was 3.12 (95 % confidence interval 1.79, 5.44; p  < 0.01). Overall, higher average ICP was associated with decreased functional status and neuropsychological functioning ( p  < 0.01). Importantly, among survivors, increasing average ICP was not independently associated with worse performance on neuropsychological testing ( p  = 0.46). Conclusions Average ICP in the first 48 h of monitoring was an independent predictor of mortality and of a composite endpoint of functional and neuropsychological outcome at the 6-month follow-up in moderate or severe TBI patients. However, there was no association between average ICP and neuropsychological functioning among survivors.

IntroductionThe pupillary examination is an important part of the neurological assessment, especially in the setting of acutely brain-injured patients, and pupillary abnormalities are associated with poor outcomes. Currently, the pupillary examination is based on a visual, subjective and frequently inaccurate estimation. The use of automated infrared pupillometry to measure the pupillary light reflex can precisely quantify subtle changes in pupillary functions. The study aimed to evaluate the association between abnormal pupillary function, assessed by the Neurological Pupil Index (NPi), and long-term outcomes in patients with acute brain injury (ABI).Methods and analysisThe Outcome Prognostication of Acute Brain Injury using the Neurological Pupil Index study is a prospective, observational study including adult patients with ABI requiring admission at the intensive care unit. We aimed to recruit at least 420 patients including those suffering from traumatic brain injury or haemorrhagic strokes, over 12 months. The primary aim was to assess the relationship between NPi and 6-month mortality or poor neurological outcome, measured by the Extended Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS-E, poor outcome=GOS-E 1–4). Supervised and unsupervised methods and latent class mixed models will be used to identify patterns of NPi trajectories and Cox and logistic model to evaluate their association with outcome.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the institutional review board (Comitato Etico Brianza) on 16 July 2020. Approved protocol V.4.0 dated 10 March 2020. The results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences.Trial registration numberNCT04490005.

Abstract BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is a mainstay in the management of traumatic brain injury. Large investigations have validated the safety and efficacy of ICP monitors in comatose patients. Clinically relevant infections are extremely rare and cerebral abscess has never been reported with the Camino device. We describe an exceptional case of a life-threatening intracerebral abscess from an intraparenchymal ICP monitor. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 35-month-old child required 7 days of ICP monitoring after a fall from a 2-story window. His hospital course was complicated by severe airway edema treated, in part, with high-dose corticosteroid therapy for a total of 10 days. Two weeks later, the patient deteriorated acutely owing to a large intracerebral abscess under the previous ICP monitor site. Urgent craniotomy with evacuation of the abscess was performed on 2 separate occasions. Cultures grew methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, which was treated with long-term antibiotics. At the 3-month follow-up, the patient was meeting age-appropriate milestones without focal deficits. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing an intracerebral abscess as a complication from an intraparenchymal pressure monitor. Corticosteroid therapy may have constituted an independent risk factor for the ICP monitor--associated infection, as well as reinsertion of the ICP monitoring device at the same site. That this is the first reported parenchymal infectious complication underscores the safety of this device with respect to infection. When reinsertion of a parenchymal monitor is considered, a new site should be chosen.

To avoid ischaemic secondary insults after severe head injury (SHI) it would be helpful to know the relationship between cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and intracranial pressure (ICP). Static cerebrovascular autoregulation (AR) was tested in 14 patients after SHI. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was varied to detect changes in intracranial pressure (ICP) indicative of intact AR. Three types of responses were observed: (1) MAP elevation causes an increase in ICP; (2) MAP elevation has no or very little effect on ICP; (3) MAP elevation lowers ICP; Changes between types 1/2 and type 3 suggests AR breakpoints. Varying response types and breakpoints were observed between and within patients. Lower AR breakpoints were seen from 60 to 80 mmHg CPP, upper breakpoints were as high as 112. CPP monitoring achieves a two-fold utility in targeted therapy: (1) defining the range of intact AR; and (2) lower AR breakpoint assessment to avoid secondary insults. Although the precise relationship between pAR breakpoints and the adequacy of cerebral perfusion to meet metabolic needs remains unclear, a technique such as described here is simple and has much to offer in targeting therapy toward specific pathophysiological processes in traumatic brain injury.

In this randomized trial involving 324 patients with severe traumatic brain injury in Bolivia and Ecuador, guideline-based management with intracranial pressure monitoring was not superior to management based on imaging and clinical assessments. Although the monitoring of intracranial pressure is widely recognized as standard care for patients with severe traumatic brain injury, its use in guiding therapy has incomplete acceptance, even in high-income countries. 1 – 3 Successive editions of the guidelines for the management of severe traumatic brain injury 4 – 7 have documented the inadequate evidence of efficacy, calling for randomized, controlled trials while also noting the ethical issues that would be posed if the control group consisted of patients who did not undergo monitoring. The identification of a group of intensivists in Latin America who routinely managed severe traumatic brain injury without using available . . .

Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring has been for decades a cornerstone of traumatic brain injury (TBI) management. Nevertheless, in recent years, its usefulness has been questioned in several reports. A group of neurosurgeons and neurointensivists met to openly discuss, and provide consensus on, practical applications of ICP in severe adult TBI. A consensus conference was held in Milan on October 5, 2013, putting together neurosurgeons and intensivists with recognized expertise in treatment of TBI. Four topics have been selected and addressed in pro-con presentations: 1) ICP indications in diffuse brain injury, 2) cerebral contusions, 3) secondary decompressive craniectomy (DC), and 4) after evacuation of intracranial traumatic hematomas. The participants were asked to elaborate on the existing published evidence (without a systematic review) and their personal clinical experience. Based on the presentations and discussions of the conference, some drafts were circulated among the attendants. After remarks and further contributions were collected, a final document was approved by the participants. The group made the following recommendations: 1) in comatose TBI patients, in case of normal computed tomography (CT) scan, there is no indication for ICP monitoring; 2) ICP monitoring is indicated in comatose TBI patients with cerebral contusions in whom the interruption of sedation to check neurological status is dangerous and when the clinical examination is not completely reliable. The probe should be positioned on the side of the larger contusion; 3) ICP monitoring is generally recommended following a secondary DC in order to assess the effectiveness of DC in terms of ICP control and guide further therapy; 4) ICP monitoring after evacuation of an acute supratentorial intracranial hematoma should be considered for salvageable patients at increased risk of intracranial hypertension with particular perioperative features.

Background We describe institutional vasopressor usage, and examine the effect of vasopressors on hemodynamics: heart rate (HR), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO 2 ), and jugular venous oximetry (SjVO 2 ) in adults with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 114 severely head injured patients who were admitted to the neurocritical care unit of Level 1 trauma center and who received vasopressors (phenylephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, vasopressin or epinephrine) to increase blood pressure Results Phenylephrine was the most commonly used vasopressor (43%), followed by norepinephrine (30%), dopamine (22%), and vasopressin (5%). Adjusted for age, gender, injury severity score, vasopressor dose, baseline blood pressure, fluid administration, propofol sedation, and hypertonic saline infusion, phenylephrine use was associated with 8 mmHg higher mean arterial pressure (MAP) than dopamine ( P  = 0.03), and 12 mmHg higher cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) than norepinephrine ( P  = 0.02) during the 3 h after vasopressor start. There was no difference in ICP between the drug groups, either at baseline or after vasopressor treatment. Conclusions Most severe TBI patients received phenylephrine. Patients who received phenylephrine had higher MAP and CPP than patients who received dopamine and norepinephrine, respectively.