OBJECTIVETo assess the therapeutic effect of ulinastatin on severe craniocerebral injuries and to explore its mechanism.

METHODSThere were 87 cases of severe brain injury in this series and they were either treated by ulinastatin (treatment group, 41 cases) or not (control group, 46 cases) besides routine managements. We estimated C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, superoxide dismutase, and endothelin from plasmas of all the cases on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th day after injury.

RESULTSC-reactive protein level rose on the 1st and 3rd day after injury in the two groups, but descended in treatment group on the 5th and 7th day and was significantly lower than that in control group (P < 0.01). No significant difference was found for interleukin-6 in two groups during 1-5 days after injury, but on the 7th day, it decreased significantly in treatment group than control one (P < 0.01). Superoxide dismutase was higher in treatment group than control one in 5-7 days after injury (P < 0.01). Endothelin elevated on the 1st day after injury but dropped afterwards in the two groups, in which the level in treatment group was lower than that in control one. The incidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage was lower in treatment group than control one (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSUlinastatin has the function of protecting cerebral tissue, reducing the incidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, improving hepatic and renal function and prognosis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; blood ; drug therapy ; Endothelins ; blood ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood ; Trypsin Inhibitors ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo study the influence and mechanism of acute ethanol intoxication (AEI) on rat neuronal apoptosis after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

METHODSNinety-six Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal control, AEI-only, TBI-only and TBI+AEI (n equal to 24 for each). Severe TBI model was developed according to Feeney's method. Rats in TBI+AEI group were firstly subjected to AEI, and then suffered head trauma. In each group, animals were sacrificed at 6 h, 24 h, 72 h, and 168 h after TBI. The level of neuronal apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 protein were determined by TUNEL assay and immunohistochemical method, respectively.

RESULTSApoptotic cells mainly distributed in the cortex and white matter around the damaged area. Neuronal apoptosis significantly increased at 6 h after trauma and peaked at 72 h. Both the level of neuronal apoptosis and expression of Bcl-2 protein in TBI-only group and TBI+AEI group were higher than those in control group (P less than 0.05). Compared with TBI-only group, the two indexes were much higher in TBI+AEI group at all time points (P less than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONOur findings suggest that AEI can increase neuronal apoptosis after severe TBI.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Brain Injuries ; Cerebral Cortex ; cytology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Ethanol ; poisoning ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Male ; Neurons ; physiology ; Prosencephalon ; cytology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively compare facial pain outcomes for patients having either a repeat microvascular decompression (MVD) or percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) as their surgery for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) recurrence.METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 110 patients with TN recurrence who had either redo MVD (n=68) or PBC (n=42) from July 2010 until September 2016. The mean follow-up was 45.6 months.RESULTS: After redo MVD, 65 patients (95.6%) experienced immediate relief of pain. After PBC, 34 patients (81%) were immediately relieved of their neuralgia. After 1 month, the clinical effect of redo MVD was better than PBC (p < 0.01). Patients who had redo MVD more commonly were pain free off medications (93.4% at 1 year, 78.2% at 4 years) compared with the PBC patients (85.1% at 1 year, 59.3% at 4 years). However, mean length of stay was longer (p>0.05). Patients after PBC who occurred developed herpes simplex (35.7%), facial numbness (76.2%), and annoying dysesthesia (21.4%) more frequently compared with patients after redo MVD who occurred developed herpes simplex (14.7%), facial numbness (8.8%), and hypoesthesia (5.9%) (p < 0.05). The symptoms recurred respectively in 15 patients (22.1%) and 19 patients (45.2%) after redo MVD and PBC within the entire 6-year follow-up period.CONCLUSION: For the patients with TN recurrence, redo MVD was a more effective procedure than PBC. The cure rate and immediate relief of pain were better, and the incidence of complications was lower.
Cohort Studies ; Facial Pain ; Follow-Up Studies ; Herpes Simplex ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Incidence ; Length of Stay ; Microvascular Decompression Surgery ; Neuralgia ; Paresthesia ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Trigeminal Neuralgia

OBJECTIVETo investigate the application of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) to patients with severe craniocerebral injury for the purpose of nutritional support therapy and pulmonary infection prevention.

METHODSA total of 43 patients with severe craniocerebral injury admitted to our department from January 2008 to December 2012 received PEG followed by nutritional therapy. There were other 82 patients who were prescribed nasal-feeding nutrition. Nutrition status was evaluated by comparing serum albumin levels, and the incidence of pulmonary infection 1 week before and 2 weeks after operation was identified and compared.

RESULTSBoth PEG and nasal-feeding nutrition therapies have significantly elevated serum albumin levels (P<0.05). Serum albumin levels before and after nutritional therapies showed no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The incidence of pulmonary infection in PEG group was significantly decreased compared with that in nasal-feeding nutrition group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONPEG is an effective method for severe craniocerebral injury patients. It can not only provide enteral nutrition but also prevent pulmonary infection induced by esophageal reflux.

Craniocerebral Trauma ; therapy ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; prevention & control ; Gastroscopy ; Gastrostomy ; methods ; Humans ; Lung Diseases ; prevention & control ; Nutritional Support ; Serum Albumin ; analysis

OBJECTIVEThe management of secondary normal pressure hydrocephalus (sNPH) is controversial. Many factors may affect the surgery effect. The purpose of this study was to identify the possible factors influencing prognosis and provide theoretical basis for clinical treatment of sNPH.

METHODSA retrospective study was carried out to investigate the results of 31 patients with sNPH who underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery from January 2007 to December 2011. We processed the potential influencing factors by univariate analysis and the result further by multivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULTSFactors including age, disease duration and Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score before surgery significantly influenced the prognosis of sNPH (P less than 0.05). Further logistic regression analysis showed that all the three factors are independent influencing factors.

CONCLUSIONAge, disease duration and GCS score before surgery have positive predictive value in estimating favorable response to surgical treatment for sNPH.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus, Normal Pressure ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt

OBJECTIVETo assess zero drift of intraventricular and subdural intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring systems.

METHODSA prospective study was conducted in patients who received Codman ICP monitoring in the neurosurgical department from January 2010 to December 2011. According to the location of sensors, the patients were categorized into two groups: intraventricular group and subdural group. Zero drift between the two groups and its association with the duration of ICP monitor were analyzed.

RESULTSTotally, 22 patients undergoing intraventricular ICP monitoring and 27 receiving subdural ICP monitoring were enrolled. There was no significant difference in duration of ICP monitoring, zero drift value and its absolute value between intraventricular and subdural groups (5.38 d+/-2.58 d vs 4.58 d+/-2.24 d, 0.77 mm Hg+/-2.18 mm Hg vs 1.03 mm Hg+/-2.06 mm Hg, 1.68 mm Hg+/-1.55 mm Hg vs 1.70 mm Hg+/-1.53 mm Hg, respectively; all P larger than 0.05). Absolute value of zero drift in both groups significantly rose with the increased duration of ICP monitoring (P less than 0.05) while zero drift value did not. Moreover, daily absolute value in the intraventricular group was significantly smaller than that in the subdural group (0.27 mm Hg+/-0.32 mm Hg vs 0.29 mm Hg+/-0.18 mm Hg, P less than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrates that absolute value of zero drift significantly correlates with duration of both intraventricular and subdural ICP monitoring. Due to the smaller daily absolute value, ICP values recorded from intraventricular system may be more reliable than those from subdural system.

Aged ; Cerebral Ventricles ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Pressure ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Prospective Studies ; Subdural Space