PURPOSE To evaluate the clinical effects of magnesium sulfate in the treatment of diffuse axonal injury (DAI). PATIENTS AND METHODS This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou and Zhuhai People's Hospital, Zhuhai, two trauma center hospitals. A total of 128 patients suffered from DAI, with ...

We present a case of penetrating head injuries caused by blast fragmentation, along with other serious injuries (including to the arms, face and neck), where a good recovery was made despite an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 75. We suggest that survival and outcome are reliant on several factors and cannot be predicted from ISS, velocity of penetrating injury or presenting Glasgow Coma Scale (G...

BACKGROUND After traumatic brain injury (TBI), hypotension, hypoxia and hypercapnia have been shown to result in secondary brain injury that can lead to increased mortality and disability. Effective prehospital assessment and treatment by emergency medical service (EMS) is considered essential for favourable outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a physician-staffed helico...

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) has demonstrated efficacy in reducing mortality in hemispheric infarction of the middle cerebral artery. The aim of our study was to compare the outcome of patients submitted to DC to patients treated in a conservative way. Eighteen patients were submitted to DC and 14 received conservative treatment. Neurological status was assessed by the Glasgow Coma Score and ...

OBJECTIVE Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR) score has previously been validated scale in the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit. In this study, we sought to validate the use of FOUR score in the emergency department (ED) using non-neurology staff. We also compared its performance to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and correlated it to functional outcome at hospital discharge and overall survi...

Methods A prospective observational study was conducted on a cohort of 50 patients with severe TBI. Only Patients with isolated severe TBI defined as Glasgow coma scale (GCS) < 8 were included in the study. APACHE II score, GCS, hemodynamic data, serum Troponin I, electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiographic examination, and patients’ outcome were recorded. A Cardiac Injury Score (CIS) was ca...

A 35-year-old male is found unconscious at the bottom of a staircase. His Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score is 3, and he is intubated by the paramedics for failure to protect his airway. On assessment in the emergency department (ED), the GCS score remains 3, but his examination and investigations (including a normal head computed tomographic [CT] scan) are unremarkable except for a serum ethanol ...

BACKGROUND With this study we aimed to design validated outcome prediction models in moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) using demographic, clinical, and radiological parameters. METHODS Seven hundred consecutive moderate or severe TBI patients were included in this observational prospective cohort study. After inclusion, clinical data were collected, initial head computed tomogr...

The body core temperatures of 31 patients suffering from severe cerebral lesions were measured. Evidence for the existence or nonexistence of circadian rhythms in these patients was found to be associated with diagnosis (acute versus chronic lesions), with the level of consciousness, and with neurological findings (such as best motor response and pupillary reaction), but not with heart rate, co...

BACKGROUND No reliable prognostic predictor is known for patients undergoing sorafenib treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS In 81 patients receiving sorafenib treatment for advanced HCC, we evaluated the prognostic significance of an inflammation-based prognostic score, the Glasgow prognostic score [evidenced by an elevated C-reactive protein level (>1.0...