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Background: By preventing hypoxia and hypercapnia, advanced airway management can save lives among patients with traumatic brain injury. During endotracheal intubation (ETI), tracheal stimulation causes an increase in intracranial pressure (ICP), which may impair brain perfusion. It has been suggested that intravenous lidocaine might attenuate this ICP response. We hypothesized that adding lidocaine to the standard induction medication for general anesthesia might reduce the ICP response to ETI. Here, we measured the optical nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) as a correlate of ICP and evaluated the effect of intravenous lidocaine on ONSD during and after ETI in patients undergoing anesthesia., Methods: This double-blinded, randomized placebo-controlled trial included 60 patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists I or II physical status that were scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia. In addition to the standard anesthesia medication, 30 subjects received 1.5 mg/kg 1% lidocaine (0.15 mL/kg, ONSD lidocaine) and 30 received 0.15 mL/kg 0.9% NaCl (ONSD placebo). ONSDs were measured with ultrasound on the left eye, before (T0), during (T1), and 4 times after ETI (T2-5 at 5-min intervals)., Results: Compared to placebo, lidocaine did not significantly affect the baseline ONSD after anesthesia induction measured at T0. During ETI, the ONSD lidocaine was significantly smaller (β=-0.24 mm P=0.022) than the ONSD placebo. At T4 and T5, the ONSD placebo increased steadily, up to 20 min after ETI, but the ONSD lidocaine tended to return to baseline levels., Conclusions: We found that the ONSD was distended during and after ETI in anesthetized patients, and intravenous lidocaine attenuated this effect.

Background: Glioblastomas are mostly resected under general anesthesia under the supervision of a general anesthesiologist. Currently, it is largely unkown if clinical outcomes of GBM patients can be improved by appointing a neuro-anesthesiologist for their cases. We aimed to evaluate whether the assignment of dedicated neuro-anesthesiologists improves the outcomes of these patients. We also investigated the value of dedicated neuro-oncological surgical teams as an independent variable in both groups., Methods: A cohort consisting of 401 GBM patients who had undergone resection was retrospectively investigated. Primary outcomes were postoperative neurological complications, fluid balance, length-of-stay and overall survival. Secondary outcomes were blood loss, anesthesia modality, extent of resection, total admission costs, and duration of surgery., Results: 320 versus 81 patients were operated under the anesthesiological supervision of a general anesthesiologist and a dedicated neuro-anesthesiologist, respectively. Dedicated neuro-anesthesiologists yielded significant superior outcomes in 1) postoperative neurological complications (early: p = 0.002, OR = 2.54; late: p = 0.003, OR = 2.24); 2) fluid balance (p<0.0001); 3) length-of-stay (p = 0.0006) and 4) total admission costs (p = 0.0006). In a subanalysis of the GBM resections performed by an oncological neurosurgeon (n = 231), the assignment of a dedicated neuro-anesthesiologist independently improved postoperative neurological complications (early minor: p = 0.0162; early major: p = 0.00780; late minor: p = 0.00250; late major: p = 0.0364). The assignment of a dedicated neuro-oncological team improved extent of resection additionally (p = 0.0416)., Conclusion: GBM resections with anesthesiological supervision of a dedicated neuro-anesthesiologists are associated with improved patient outcomes. Prospective evidence is needed to further investigate the usefulness of the dedicated neuro-anesthesiologist in different settings., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Gerritsen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Objective: To compare outcomes between patients with primary external ventricular device (EVD)-driven treatment of intracranial hypertension and those with primary intraparenchymal monitor (IP)-driven treatment., Methods: The CENTER-TBI study is a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal observational cohort study that enrolled patients of all TBI severities from 62 participating centers (mainly level I trauma centers) across Europe between 2015 and 2017. Functional outcome was assessed at 6 months and a year. We used multivariable adjusted instrumental variable (IV) analysis with "center" as instrument and logistic regression with covariate adjustment to determine the effect estimate of EVD on 6-month functional outcome., Results: A total of 878 patients of all TBI severities with an indication for intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring were included in the present study, of whom 739 (84%) patients had an IP monitor and 139 (16%) an EVD. Patients included were predominantly male (74% in the IP monitor and 76% in the EVD group), with a median age of 46 years in the IP group and 48 in the EVD group. Six-month GOS-E was similar between IP and EVD patients (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval [CI] OR 0.74 and 95% CI [0.36-1.52], adjusted IV analysis). The length of intensive care unit stay was greater in the EVD group than in the IP group (adjusted rate ratio [95% CI] 1.70 [1.34-2.12], IV analysis). One hundred eighty-seven of the 739 patients in the IP group (25%) required an EVD due to refractory ICPs., Conclusion: We found no major differences in outcomes of patients with TBI when comparing EVD-guided and IP monitor-guided ICP management. In our cohort, a quarter of patients that initially received an IP monitor required an EVD later for ICP control. The prevalence of complications was higher in the EVD group., Protocol: The core study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT02210221, and the Resource Identification Portal (RRID: SCR&#95;015582)., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Intraoperative MRI and 5-aminolaevulinic acid guided surgery are useful to maximize the extent of glioblastoma resection. Intraoperative ultrasound is used as a time-and cost-effective alternative, but its value has never been assessed in a trial. The goal of this randomized controlled trial was to assess the value of intraoperative B-mode ultrasound guided surgery on the extent of glioblastoma resection., Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, patients of 18 years or older with a newly diagnosed presumed glioblastoma, deemed totally resectable, presenting at the Erasmus MC (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) were enrolled and randomized (1:1) into intraoperative B-mode ultrasound guided surgery or resection under standard neuronavigation. The primary outcome of this study was complete contrast-enhancing tumor resection, assessed quantitatively by a blinded neuroradiologist on pre- and post-operative MRI scans. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03531333)., Results: We enrolled 50 patients between November 1, 2016 and October 30, 2019. Analysis was done in 23 of 25 (92%) patients in the intraoperative B-mode ultrasound group and 24 of 25 (96%) patients in the standard surgery group. Eight (35%) of 23 patients in the intraoperative B-mode ultrasound group and two (8%) of 24 patients in the standard surgery group underwent complete resection (p=0.036). Baseline characteristics, neurological outcome, functional performance, quality of life, complication rates, overall survival and progression-free survival did not differ between treatment groups (p>0.05)., Conclusions: Intraoperative B-mode ultrasound enables complete resection more often than standard surgery without harming patients and can be considered to maximize the extent of glioblastoma resection during surgery., Competing Interests: MS reports an honorarium received from Parexel Ltd (paid to institution) and speaker fees from GE Healthcare (paid to institution). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Incekara, Smits, Dirven, Bos, Balvers, Haitsma, Schouten and Vincent.)

Introduction: Traumatic axonal injury (TAI) is a condition defined as multiple, scattered, small hemorrhagic, and/or non-hemorrhagic lesions, alongside brain swelling, in a more confined white matter distribution on imaging studies, together with impaired axoplasmic transport, axonal swelling, and disconnection after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ever since its description in the 1980s and the grading system by Adams et al., our understanding of the processes behind this entity has increased., Methods: We performed a scoping systematic, narrative review by interrogating Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and Google Scholar on the pathophysiology, biomarkers, and diagnostic tools of TAI patients until July 2020., Results: We underline the misuse of the Adams classification on MRI without proper validation studies, and highlight the hiatus in the scientific literature and areas needing more research. In the past, the theory behind the pathophysiology relied on the inertial force exerted on the brain matter after severe TBI inducing a primary axotomy. This theory has now been partially abandoned in favor of a more refined theory involving biochemical processes such as protein cleavage and DNA breakdown, ultimately leading to an inflammation cascade and cell apoptosis, a process now described as secondary axotomy., Conclusion: The difference in TAI definitions makes the comparison of studies that report outcomes, treatments, and prognostic factors a daunting task. An even more difficult task is isolating the outcomes of isolated TAI from the outcomes of severe TBI in general. Targeted bench-to-bedside studies are required in order to uncover further pathways involved in the pathophysiology of TAI and, ideally, new treatments.

Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) Guidelines for medical management of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) have become a global standard for the treatment of TBI patients. We aim to explore the evolution of the guidelines for the management of severe TBI. We reviewed the four editions of the BTF guidelines published over the past 20 years. The 1996 and 2000 editions were merged because of minimal differences, and are referred to as the 1996 edition. We described changes in topics and recommendations over time, and analyzed predictors of survival of recommendations with logistical regression. The guidelines contained 27 recommendations on 18 topics in 2016, 35 recommendations on 15 topics in 2007, and 22 recommendations on 10 topics in 1996. Substantial delays were found between the search for evidence and the guideline publication, ranging from 18 to 34 months. The overall body of evidence comprised 189 studies on 18 topics in 2016, compared with 156 studies on 15 topics in 2007 and 180 studies on 10 topics in 1996. Over time, a total of 175 studies were discarded from the evidence base following more rigorous grading of evidence. A total of 15/23 (65%) of the 1996/2000 recommendations were discarded over time. Out of 12 new recommendations introduced in the 2007 edition, 8 (66%) were discarded in 2016. Survival of recommendations varied between 33% and 100% for level I recommendations and between 11% and 31% for level II and III recommendations. No predictors of survival of recommendations were found. Substantial delays exist between literature search and publication, and survival rate of TBI guideline recommendations is poor. These factors may adversely affect currency and adherence to guidelines. The TBI community should take responsibility for improving the quality of the evidence base and ensuring that the translation of the evidence into guidelines supports clinicians in daily clinical practice.

Objective: Guidelines may reduce practice variation and optimize patient care. We aimed to study differences in guideline use in the management of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and analyze reasons for guideline non-adherence., Methods: As part of a prospective, observational, multicenter European cohort study, participants from 68 centers in 20 countries were asked to complete 72-item questionnaires regarding their management of severe TBI. Six questions with multiple sub-questions focused on guideline use and implementation., Results: Questionnaires were completed by 65 centers. Of these, 49 (75%) reported use of the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines for the medical management of TBI or related institutional protocols, 11 (17%) used no guidelines, and 5 used other guidelines (8%). Of 54 centers reporting use of any guidelines, 41 (75%) relied on written guidelines. Four centers of the 54 (7%) reported no formal implementation efforts. Structural attention to the guidelines during daily clinical rounds was reported by 21 centers (38%). The most often reported reasons for non-adherence were "every patient is unique" and the presence of extracranial injuries, both for centers that did and did not report the use of guidelines., Conclusions: There is substantial variability in the use and implementation of guidelines in neurotrauma centers in Europe. Further research is needed to strengthen the evidence underlying guidelines and to overcome implementation barriers., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is one of the mainstays in the treatment of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), but different approaches to monitoring exist. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to compare the effectiveness and complication rate of ventricular drainage (VD) versus intracranial parenchymal (IP) catheters to monitor and treat raised ICP in patients with TBI. Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Database were searched for articles comparing ICP monitoring-based management with VDs and monitoring with IP monitors through March 2018. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed independently by two authors. Outcomes assessed were mortality, functional outcome, need for decompressive craniectomy, length of stay, overall complications, such as infections, and hemorrhage. Pooled effect estimates were calculated with random effects models and expressed as relative risk (RR) for dichotomous outcomes and mean difference (MD) for ordinal outcomes, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). Six studies were included: one randomized controlled trial and five observational cohort studies. Three studies reported mortality, functional outcome, and the need for a surgical decompression, and three only reported complications. The quality of the studies was rated as poor, with critical or serious risk of bias. The pooled analysis did not show a statistically significant difference in mortality (RR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.60-1.36, p = 0.41) or functional outcome (MD = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.67-1.13, p = 0.61). The complication rate of VDs was higher (RR = 2.56, 95% CI = 1.17-5.61, p = 0.02), and consisted mainly of infectious complications; that is, meningitis. VDs caused more complications, particularly more infections, but there was no difference in mortality or functional outcome between the two monitoring modalities. However, the studies had a high risk of bias. A need exists for high quality comparisons of VDs versus IP monitor-based management strategies on patient outcomes.

Within a prospective, observational, multi-center cohort study 68 hospitals (of which 66 responded), mostly academic (n = 60, 91%) level I trauma centers (n = 44, 67%) in 20 countries were asked to complete questionnaires regarding the "standard of care" for severe neurotrauma patients in their hospitals. From the questionnaire pertaining to ICU management, 12 questions related to admission criteria were selected for this analysis. The questionnaires were completed by 66 centers. The median number of TBI patients admitted to the ICU was 92 [interquartile range (IQR): 52-160] annually. Admission policy varied; in 45 (68%) centers, patients with a Glasgow Come Score (GCS) between 13 and 15 without CT abnormalities but with other risk factors would be admitted to the ICU while the rest indicated that they would not admit these patients routinely to the ICU. We found no association between ICU admission policy and the presence of a dedicated neuro ICU, the discipline in charge of rounds, the presence of step down beds or geographic location (North- Western Europe vs. South - Eastern Europe and Israel). Variation in admission policy, primarily of mild TBI patients to ICU exists, even among high-volume academic centers and seems to be largely independent of other center characteristics. The observed variation suggests a role for comparative effectiveness research to investigate the potential benefit and cost-effectiveness of a liberal versus more restrictive admission policies., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: to assess the efficacy and safety after 48 weeks of treatment with pasireotide long-acting-release (PAS-LAR) alone or in combination with pegvisomant in patients with acromegaly. In addition, we assessed the relation between insulin secretion and pasireotide-induced hyperglycemia., Design: The PAPE extension study is a prospective follow-up study until 48 weeks after the core study of 24 weeks., Methods: 59 out of 61 patients entered the extension study. Efficacy was defined as the percentage of patients achieving IGF-I normalization (≤ 1.2 x the Upper Limit of Normal (ULN)) at 48-weeks through protocol-based adjustment of pegvisomant and PAS-LAR doses. At baseline, insulin secretion was assessed by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)., Results: At the end of the study median IGF-I was 0.98 x ULN, and 77% of patients achieved normal IGF-I levels with a mean pegvisomant dose of 64 mg/week, and an overall cumulative pegvisomant dose reduction of 52%. Frequency of diabetes mellitus increased from 68% at 24 weeks to 77% at 48 weeks, and 9 patients discontinued PAS-LAR treatment, mainly because of severe hyperglycemia. Pasireotide-induced hyperglycemia was inversely correlated with baseline insulin secretion (r = -0.37, P < 0.005)., Conclusions: PAS-LAR normalizes IGF-I levels in most acromegaly patients, with a fifty percent pegvisomant-sparing effect. However, PAS-LAR treatment coincided with a high incidence of diabetes mellitus. The risk for developing diabetes during PAS-LAR treatment seems inversely related to insulin secretion at baseline., (© 2018 European Society of Endocrinology)

The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive function 10 years after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to investigate the associations among cognitive function, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In this prospective cohort study, with measurements at 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 120 months post-TBI, patients 18-67 years of age (n = 113) with moderate-severe TBI were recruited. Main outcome measures were depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale [CES-D]), subjective cognitive functioning (Cognitive Failure Questionnaire [CFQ]), objective cognitive functioning, and HRQoL (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]). Fifty of the initial 113 patients completed the 10 year follow-up. Twenty percent showed symptoms of depression (CES-D ≥ 16). These patients had more psychiatric symptoms at hospital discharge (p = 0.048) and were more often referred to rehabilitation or nursing homes (p = 0.015) than non-depressed patients. Further, they also had significantly lower scores in six of the eight subdomains of the SF-36. The non-depressed patients had equivalent scores to those of the Dutch norm-population on all subdomains of the SF-36. Cognitive problems at hospital discharge were related with worse cognitive outcome 10 years post-TBI, but not with depression or HRQoL. Ten years after moderate-severe TBI, only weak associations (p < 0.05) between depression scores and two objective cognitive functioning scores were found. However, there were moderate associations (p < 0.01) among depression scores, HRQoL, and subjective cognitive functioning. Therefore, signaling and treatment of depressive symptoms after moderate-severe TBI may be of major importance for optimizing HRQoL in the long term. We did not find strong evidence for associations between depression and objective cognitive functioning in the long term post-TBI. Disease awareness and selective dropping out may play a role in long-term follow-up studies in moderate-severe TBI. More long-term research is needed in this field.

Aim: To assess the efficacy and safety of pasireotide long-acting release (PAS-LAR) alone or in combination with pegvisomant by switching patients with acromegaly who were well controlled with long-acting somatostatin analogues (LA-SSAs) and pegvisomant to PAS-LAR with or without pegvisomant., Methods: Sixty-one patients with acromegaly were enrolled in a prospective open-label study. We included patients with an insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) ≤1.2 × upper limit of normal (ULN) during treatment with LA-SSAs and pegvisomant. At baseline, the pegvisomant dose was reduced by 50% up to 12 weeks. When IGF-I remained ≤1.2 × ULN after 12 weeks, patients were switched to PAS-LAR 60 mg monotherapy. When IGF-I was >1.2 × ULN, patients were switched to PAS-LAR 60 mg, and they continued with the 50% reduced pegvisomant dose., Results: At baseline, mean IGF-I was 0.97 × ULN, and the median pegvisomant dose was 80 mg/wk. At 12 weeks, mean IGF-I increased to 1.59 × ULN, and IGF-I levels ≤1.2 ULN were observed in 24.6% of participants. At 24 weeks, IGF-I levels were reduced into the reference range in 73.8% of patients. Between baseline and 24 weeks, the pegvisomant dose was reduced by 66.1%. PAS-LAR was well tolerated, but hyperglycemia was the most frequent adverse event. The frequency of diabetes increased from 32.8% at baseline to 68.9% at 24 weeks., Conclusions: Switching to PAS-LAR, either as monotherapy or combination with pegvisomant, can control IGF-I levels in most patients. PAS-LAR demonstrated a pegvisomant-sparing effect of 66% compared with the combination with LA-SSAs. Hyperglycemia was the most important safety issue., (Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society)

Our aim was to describe current approaches and to quantify variability between European intensive care units (ICUs) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Therefore, we conducted a provider profiling survey as part of the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury (CENTER-TBI) study. The ICU Questionnaire was sent to 68 centers from 20 countries across Europe and Israel. For this study, we used ICU questions focused on 1) hemoglobin target level (Hb-TL), 2) coagulation management, and 3) deep venous thromboembolism (DVT) prophylaxis. Seventy-eight participants, mostly intensivists and neurosurgeons of 66 centers, completed the ICU questionnaire. For ICU-patients, half of the centers ( N  = 34; 52%) had a defined Hb-TL in their protocol. For patients with TBI, 26 centers (41%) indicated an Hb-TL between 70 and 90 g/L and 38 centers (59%) above 90 g/L. To treat trauma-related hemostatic abnormalities, the use of fresh frozen plasma ( N  = 48; 73%) or platelets ( N  = 34; 52%) was most often reported, followed by the supplementation of vitamin K ( N  = 26; 39%). Most centers reported using DVT prophylaxis with anticoagulants frequently or always ( N  = 62; 94%). In the absence of hemorrhagic brain lesions, 14 centers (21%) delayed DVT prophylaxis until 72 h after trauma. If hemorrhagic brain lesions were present, the number of centers delaying DVT prophylaxis for 72 h increased to 29 (46%). Overall, a lack of consensus exists between European ICUs on blood transfusion and coagulation management. The results provide a baseline for the CENTER-TBI study, and the large between-center variation indicates multiple opportunities for comparative effectiveness research.

The objective of this prospective cohort study was to evaluate the probability of employment and predictors of employment in patients with moderate- to- severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) over 10-year follow-up. One hundred nine patients (18-67 years) were included with follow-up measurements 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months and 10 years post-TBI. Potential predictors of employment probability included patient characteristics, injury severity factors, functional outcome measured at discharge from the hospital with the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Barthel Index (BI), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and the Functional Assessment Measure (FAM). Forty-eight patients (42%) completed the 10-year follow-up. Three months post-TBI, 12% were employed, which gradually, but significantly, increased to 57% after 2-years follow-up (p < 0.001), followed by a significant decrease to 43% (p = 0.041) after 10 years. Ten years post-TBI, we found that employed persons had less-severe TBI, shorter length of hospital stay (LOS), and higher scores on the GOS, BI, FIM, and FAM at hospital discharge than unemployed persons. No significant differences in age, sex, educational level, living with partner/family or not, pre-injury employment, professional category, psychiatric symptoms, or discharge destination were found. Longitudinal multivariable analysis showed that time, pre-injury employment, FAM, and LOS were independent predictors of employment probability. We concluded that employment probability 10 years after moderate or severe TBI is related to injury severity and pre-injury employment. Future studies on vocational rehabilitation should focus on modifiable factors and take into consideration the effects of national legislation and national labor market forces.

Background: Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) who use anticoagulants prior to injury have an increased risk of intracranial complications. Sometimes these complications are delayed, even if the initial CT scan of the head is normal., Case Description: An 84-year-old woman who was using acenocoumarol presented elsewhere with mild TBI. She had no focal neurological deficit. The initial CT scan revealed no abnormalities and the patient was discharged home. That evening she had diffuse headache. The next day she was found with a reduced level of consciousness and was brought to our hospital. Her INR was 9.0 and a new CT scan showed an acute, left-sided subdural haematoma with a large mass effect., Conclusion: Serious delayed intracranial complications in patients with mild TBI who use anticoagulants are rare. In these patients INR measurement and a CT scan of the head are always indicated. Admission for observation may be considered. On discharge it is necessary to give clear instructions about warning symptoms.

Background: Frameless stereotactic neuronavigation has proven to be a feasible technology to acquire brain biopsies with good accuracy and little morbidity and mortality. New systems are constantly introduced into the neurosurgical armamentarium, although few studies have actually evaluated and compared the diagnostic yield, morbidity, and mortality of various manufacturer's frameless neuronavigation systems. The present study reports our experience with brain biopsy procedures performed using both the Medtronic Stealth Treon(TM) Vertek® and BrainLAB® Varioguide frameless stereotactic brain biopsy systems., Patients and Methods: All 247 consecutive biopsies from January 2008 until May 2013 were evaluated retrospectively. One hundred two biopsies each were performed using the Medtronic (2008-2009) and BrainLAB® system (2011-2013), respectively. The year 2010 was considered a transition year, in which 43 biopsies were performed with either system. Patient demographics, perioperative characteristics, and histological diagnosis were reviewed, and a comparison was made between the two brain biopsy systems., Results: The overall diagnostic yield was 94.6 %, i.e., 11 biopsies were nondiagnostic, 5 (4.9 %) with the Medtronic and 6 (5.9 %) with the BrainLAB® system. No differences besides the operating time (108 vs 120 min) were found between the two biopsy methods. On average, 6.6 tissue samples were taken with either technique. Peri- and postoperative complications were seen in 5.3 % and 12.9 %, consisting of three symptomatic hemorrhages (1.2 %). Biopsy-related mortality occurred in 0.8 % of all biopsies., Conclusions: Regarding diagnostic yield, complication rate, and biopsy-related mortality, there seems to be no difference between the frameless biopsy technique from Medtronic and BrainLAB®. In contemporary time, the neurosurgeon has many tools to choose from, all with a relatively fast learning curve and ever improving feasibility. Thus, the issue of choice involves not the results, but the familiarity, end-user friendliness, and overall comfort when operating the system.

Object: Ultrasonographic measurement of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) is known to be an accurate monitor of elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). However, it is yet unknown whether fluctuations in ICP result in direct changes in ONSD. Therefore, the authors researched whether ONSD and ICP simultaneously change during tracheal manipulation in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI)., Materials: The authors included 18 ICP-monitored patients who had sustained TBI and were admitted to the ICU. They examined the optic nerve sheath by performing ultrasound before, during, and after tracheal manipulation, which is known to increase ICP. The correlation between ONSD and ICP measurements was determined, and the diagnostic performance of ONSD measurement was tested using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis., Results: In all patients ICP increased above 20 mm Hg during manipulation of the trachea, and this increase was directly associated with a dilation of the ONSD of > 5.0 mm. After tracheal manipulation stopped, ICP as well as ONSD decreased immediately to baseline levels. The correlation between ICP and ONSD was high (R(2) = 0.80); at a cutoff of ≥ 5.0 mm ONSD, a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 98%, and an area under the curve of 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-1.00) for detecting elevated ICP were determined., Conclusions: In patients who have sustained a TBI, ultrasonography of the ONSD is an accurate, simple, and rapid measurement for detecting elevated ICP as well as immediate changes in ICP. Therefore, it might be a useful tool to monitor ICP, especially in conditions in which invasive ICP monitoring is not available, such as at trauma scenes.

Objectives: To evaluate the employment outcome in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to identify which patients are at risk of unemployment 3 years after injury., Design: Prospective cohort study., Setting: Patients with moderate and severe TBI discharged from the neurosurgery departments of 3 level 1 trauma centers in The Netherlands., Participants: Patients aged 18 to 65 years (N=113; mean age ± SD, 33.2±13.1y; 73% men) who were hospitalized with moderate (26% of patients) to severe (74% of patients) TBI., Interventions: Not applicable., Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measure was employment status. Potential predictors included patient characteristics, injury severity factors, functional outcome measured at discharge from the acute hospital with the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Barthel Index (BI), and FIM, and cognitive functioning measured with the Functional Assessment Measure (FAM)., Results: Ninety-four patients (83%) completed the 3-year follow-up. The employment rate dropped from 80% preinjury to 15% at 3 months postinjury and gradually increased to 55% after 3 years. The employment rate significantly increased from 3 months up to 1 year, but it did not change significantly from 1 to 3 years postinjury. Age, length of hospital stay, discharge to a nursing home (vs home), psychiatric symptoms, and BI, GOS, FIM, and FAM scores were found to be significant univariate determinants for employment status. By using multiple logistic regression analysis, the FAM score (adjusted odds ratio 1.1; P<.000) and psychiatric symptoms (adjusted odds ratio .08; P<.019) were selected as independent predictors for employment status. A FAM cutoff score of less than 65 to identify patients at risk of long-term unemployment had a good diagnostic value., Conclusions: Patients with TBI with psychiatric symptoms and impaired cognitive functioning at hospital discharge are at the highest risk of long-term unemployment. These factors should be the focus of vocational rehabilitation., (Copyright © 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previously, we reported on our single centre results regarding the diagnostic yield of stereotactic needle biopsies of brain lesions. The yield then (1996-2006) was 89.4%. In the present study, we review and evaluate our experience with intraoperative frozen-section histopathologic diagnosis on-demand in order to improve the diagnostic yield., Methods: One hundred sixty-four consecutive frameless biopsy procedures in 160 patients (group 1, 2006-2010) were compared with the historic control group (group 2, n = 164 frameless biopsy procedures). Diagnostic yield, as well as demographics, morbidity and mortality, was compared. Statistical analysis was performed by Student's t, Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square test and backward logistic regression when appropriate., Results: Demographics were comparable. In group 1, a non-diagnostic tissue specimen was obtained in 1.8%, compared to 11.0% in group 2 (p = 0.001). Also, both the operating time and the number of biopsies needed were decreased significantly. Procedure-related mortality decreased from 3.7% to 0.6% (p = 0.121). Multivariate analysis only proved operating time (odds ratio (OR), 1.012; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.000-1.025; p = 0.043), a right-sided lesion (OR, 3.183; 95% CI, 1.217-8.322; p = 0.018) and on-demand intraoperative histology (OR, 0.175; 95% CI, 0.050-0.618; p = 0.007) important factors predicting non-diagnostic biopsies., Conclusions: The importance of a reliable pathological diagnosis as obtained by biopsy must not be underestimated. We believe that when performing stereotactic biopsy for intracranial lesions, next to minimising morbidity, one should strive for as high a positive yield as possible. In the present single centre retrospective series, we have shown that using a standardised procedure and careful on-demand intraoperative frozen-section analysis can improve the diagnostic yield of stereotactic brain biopsy procedures as compared to a historical series.

Background: Frameless stereotaxy or neuronavigation has evolved into a feasible technology to acquire intracranial biopsies with good accuracy and little mortality. However, few studies have evaluated the diagnostic yield, morbidity, and mortality of this technique as compared to the established standard of frame-based stereotactic brain biopsy. We report our experience of a large number of procedures performed with one or other technique., Patients and Methods: We retrospectively assessed 465 consecutive biopsies done over a ten-year time span; Data from 391 biopsies (227 frame-based and 164 frameless) were available for analysis. Patient demographics, peri-operative characteristics, and histological diagnosis were reviewed and then information was analysed to identify factors associated with the biopsy not yielding a diagnosis and of it being followed by death., Results: On average, nine tissue samples were taken with either stereotaxy technique. Overall, the biopsy led to a diagnosis on 89.4% of occasions. No differences were found between the two biopsy procedures. In a multiple regression analysis, it was found that left-sided lesions were less likely to result in a non-diagnostic tissue sample (p = 0.023), and cerebellar lesions showed a high risk of negative histology (p = 0.006). Postoperative complications were seen after 12.1% of biopsies, including 15 symptomatic haemorrhages (3.8%). There was not a difference between the rates of complication after either a frame-based or a frameless biopsy. Overall, peri-operative complications (p = 0.030) and deep-seated lesions (p = 0.060) increased the risk of biopsy-related death. Symptomatic haemorrhages resulting in death (1.5% of all biopsies) were more frequently seen after biopsy of a fronto-temporally located lesion (p = 0.007) and in patients with a histologically confirmed lymphoma (p = 0.039)., Conclusions: The diagnostic yield, complication rates, and biopsy-related mortality did not differ between a frameless biopsy technique and the established frame-based technique. The site of the lesion and the occurrence of a peri-operative complication were associated with the likelihood of failure to achieve a diagnosis and with death after biopsy. We believe that using intraoperative frozen section or cytologic smear histology is essential during a stereotactic biopsy in order to increase the diagnostic yield and to limit the number of biopsy specimens that need to be taken.

Ischemia is a common problem after traumatic brain injury (TBI) that eludes detection with standard monitoring. In this review we will discuss four available techniques (SjVO2, PET, NIRS and PbrO2) to monitor cerebral oxygenation. We present technical data including strengths and weaknesses of these systems, information from clinical studies and formulate a vision for the future.

Local cerebral oxygenation can be monitored continuously using an intraparenchymal Clark-type pO2 sensitive catheter. Measured values of brain tissue pO2 (PbrO2) not only depend on the clinically interesting balance between oxygen offer and demand, but also on catheter properties and characteristics of the probe tissue interface. Microdamage surrounding pO2-sensitive needles, inserted into various tissues, has been reported; we evaluated histologic changes at the probe tissue interface after insertion of pO2 probes, suitable for clinical use, in the rat brain. The effect of insertion of the probe itself (mechanical damage), the application of micropotential during the measurements, and the effect of time was evaluated using digital image analysis of H&E-stained histological slices. Surrounding the probe tract, a zone of edema with an average radius of 126.8 microm was seen; microhemorrhages with an average surface area of 56.2 x 10(3) microm2 were observed in nearly all cases. The area of edema and the presence of microhemorrhages were not influenced by performed measurements or by time. Intraventricular blood was observed in 10 of 19 rats studied. Measured low PbrO2 values were related to the presence of a microhemorrhage in either probe tract or ventricles. Tissue damage due to the measurements is negligible, and the amount of edema itself does not influence the accuracy or response time of the pO2 probe. Low PbrO2 readings, however, could be caused by local microhemorrhages, undetectable on CT or MRI.