Vasculature injury occurs rarely in traumatic brain injury but increases lifetime risk of ischemic or hemorrhage stroke. The diverse and nonspecific clinical manifestations make the diagnosis and treatment of these injuries highly challenging. With advancements in device design, endovascular treatments have become widely adopted, playing an increasingly vital role in the management of vascular diseases. The purpose of this review is to introduce and summarize endovascular treatments of traumatic cerebrovascular injury and other related pathological states after traumatic brain injury. Given the innovations of neuroendovascular devices and improvements in the techniques over the past decade, this review will outline several recent advancements in endovascular treatment strategies for cerebrovascular pathologies. Popularizing more treatment options to clinicians will benefit in dealing with a variety of clinical scenarios and reduce the overall morbidity of traumatic cerebrovascular injury.
Humans ; Endovascular Procedures/methods* ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/complications* ; Cerebrovascular Trauma/therapy*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency and related factors of ineffective triggering (IT) and double triggering (DT) in patients with acute brain injury undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from a single-center observational trial. Patients with acute brain injury [traumatic brain injury, stroke, and post-craniotomy for brain tumors] undergoing mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University between June 2017 and July 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Respiratory parameters and waveforms during the first 3 days of mechanical ventilation were recorded, with 15-minute waveform segments collected 4 times daily. Airway occlusion pressure (P_0.1) was measured via end-expiratory hold at the end of each recording. IT and DT were identified based on airway pressure, flow, and esophageal pressure waveforms, and the ineffective triggering index (ITI) and DT incidence were calculated. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with IT and DT. RESULTS: A total of 94 patients with acute brain injury were ultimately enrolled, including 19 cases of traumatic brain injury (20.2%), 39 cases of stroke (41.5%), and 36 cases of post-craniotomy for brain tumor (38.3%). Supratentorial injury was observed in 49 patients (52.1%), while infratentorial injury was identified in 45 patients (47.9%). A total of 94 patients with 1 018 datasets were analyzed; 684 (67.2%) datasets were on pressure support ventilation (PSV), and 334 (32.8%) were on mandatory ventilation. IT was detected in 810 (79.6%) datasets, with a median incidence of 2.1% (0.3%, 12.0%). Datasets demonstrating IT were characterized by lower P_0.1, higher tidal volume (VT), reduced respiratory rate (RR), and decreased minute ventilation (MV) compared to those without IT. The proportion of datasets exhibiting IT was higher during PSV than in mandatory ventilation [83.8% (573/684) vs. 71.0% (237/334), P < 0.05], while, the prevalence of ITI ≥ 10% was lower [23.8% (163/684) vs. 33.5% (112/334), P < 0.05]. DT was detected in 305 datasets (30%), with a median incidence of 0.6% (0.4%, 1.3%). Datasets exhibiting DT were characterized by higher VT, reduced RR, and lower pressure support levels. The incidence of DT was lower in PSV compared to mandatory ventilation modes [0% (0%, 0.3%) vs. 0% (0%, 0.5%), P < 0.05]. The post-craniotomy for brain tumors group exhibited higher ITI, lower RR, reduced MV, and a greater proportion of infratentorial lesions, compared to the TBI group. The infratentorial lesion group demonstrated higher ITI and incidence of DT compared to the supratentorial lesion group [ITI: 3.1% (0.7%, 17.8%) vs. 1.5% (0%, 8.3%), incidence of DT: 0% (0%, 0.5%) vs. 0% (0%, 0%), both P < 0.05]. After adjusting for confounding factors through multivariate logistic regression analysis, infratentorial lesion [odds ratio (OR) = 2.029, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.465-2.811, P < 0.001], lower P_0.1 (OR = 0.714, 95%CI was 0.616-0.827, P < 0.001), and mandatory ventilation (OR = 1.613, 95%CI was 1.164-2.236, P = 0.004) were independently associated with IT. Additionally, infratentorial lesion (OR = 1.618, 95%CI was 1.213-2.157, P = 0.001), large tidal volume (OR = 1.222, 95%CI was 1.137-1.314, P < 0.001), lower pressure support levels (OR = 0.876, 95%CI was 0.829-0.925, P < 0.001), and mandatory ventilation (OR = 2.750, 95%CI was 1.983-3.814, P < 0.001) were independently associated with DT. CONCLUSION IT and DT were common in patients with acute brain injury. Infratentorial lesions and mandatory ventilation were independently associated with both IT and DT.
Humans ; Respiration, Artificial/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Brain Injuries/therapy* ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy* ; Logistic Models ; Aged ; Adult

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether electroacupuncture (EA) would improve gastrointestinal function and clinical prognosis in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) complicocted by acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI). METHODS: This multicenter, single-blind trial included patients with TBI and AGI admitted to 5 Chinese hospitals from September 2018 to December 2019. A total of 500 patients were randomized to the control or acupuncture groups using a random number table, 250 cases in each group. Patients in the control group received conventional treatment, including mannitol, nutritional support, epilepsy and infection prevention, and maintenance of water, electrolytes, and acid-base balance. While patients in the acupuncture group received EA intervention at bilateral Zusanli (ST 36), Shangjuxu (ST 37), Xiajuxu (ST 39), Tianshu (ST 25), and Zhongwan (RN 12) acupoints in addition to the conventional treatment, 30 min per time, twice daily, for 7 d. The primary endpoint was 28-d mortality. The secondary endpoints were serum levels of D-lactic acid (D-lac), diamine oxidase (DAO), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), motilin (MTL) and gastrin (GAS), intra-abdominal pressure (IAP), bowel sounds, abdominal circumference, AGI grade, scores of gastrointestinal failure (GIF), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), and Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS), mechanical ventilation time, intense care unit (ICU) stay, and the incidence of hospital-acquired pneumonia. RESULTS: The 28-d mortality in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the control group (22.80% vs. 33.20%, P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the acupuncture group at 7 d showed lower GIF, APACHE II, SOFA, MODS scores, D-lac, DAO, LPS, IAP, and abdominal circumference and higher GCS score, MTL, GAS, and bowel sound frequency (all P<0.05). In addition, the above indices showed simillar changes at 7 d compared with days 1 and 3 (all P<0.05) in the EA group. CONCLUSION Early EA can improve gastrointestinal function and clinical prognosis in patients with severe TBI complicated by AGI. (Registration No. ChiCTR2000032276).
Humans ; Electroacupuncture ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Single-Blind Method ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy*

OBJECTIVE: To observe the awakening effect and safety of Xingnao Kaiqiao (regaining consciousness and opening orifices) acupuncture on consciousness disorder in children with early severe traumatic brain injury (STBI) based on western medicine treatment. METHODS: A total of 62 children with STBI were randomly divided into an observation group (31 cases,1 case dropped off) and a control group (31 cases, 1 case dropped off). The control group was treated with routine rehabilitation therapy (6 times a week for 30 days), and intravenous drip of cattle encephalon glycoside and ignotin injection (once a day for 28 days). On the basis of the treatment in the control group, the observation group was treated with Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6), Shuigou (GV 26), Yintang (GV 24⁺), Baihui (GV 20), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zusanli (ST 36), etc., and supplementary acupoints according to clinical symptoms, once a day, 6 times a week for 30 days. The scores of Glasgow coma scale (GCS), coma recovery scale-revised (CRS-R) and modified Barthel index (MBI) were observed before treatment and 10, 20 and 30 d into treatment. Electroencephalogram (EEG) grading before and after treatment was observed in the two groups, and safety was evaluated. RESULTS: After 10, 20 and 30 days of treatment, the scores of GCS, CRS-R and MBI in the two groups were increased compared before treatment (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were higher than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, EEG grading of both groups was improved compared with that before treatment (P<0.05), and the observation group was better than the control group (P<0.05). There were no adverse events or adverse reactions in the two groups during treatment. CONCLUSION On the basis of western medicine treatment, Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture plays a remarkable role in wakening the early STBI children, can improve the level of consciousness disorder and daily living ability, and it is safe and effective.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy* ; Consciousness Disorders/therapy* ; Humans ; Child

PURPOSE: Epileptic seizures frequently result in distinct physical injuries, fractures, traumatic brain injuries and minor trauma. The aim of this study was to retrospectively determine the frequent injury patterns due to seizure episode and to analyze consecutive acute medical care. METHODS: This retrospective mono-center study was conducted at Frankfurt University Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany between January 2007 and December 2017. Epilepsy patients with seizure-related fractures admitted to the emergency department were identified via a retrospective systematic query in the hospital information system using the ICD-10 German modification codes G40.0-G40.9. Patients with an unclear diagnosis of epilepsy were excluded. Sociodemographic as well as disease specific aspects were analyzed. Descriptive and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total number of 62 epilepsy patients were included. The mean age was 58.1 years. Fractures concerned the upper extremity most frequently (43.5%, n = 20), and 70.0% (14/20) were humerus fractures. Admission to intensive care unit for acute trauma care was necessary in 29.0% patients (n = 18), and surgery in 45.2% patients (n = 28). Twenty-five patients (26.6%) showed clinical or radiological signs of traumatic brain injury. Provoking factors were identified in 20 patients (32.3%), i.e., acute withdrawal or excess of alcohol (n = 15), relevant sleep deprivation (n = 2), and intoxication or withdrawal of other illegal drugs or trivial infect (n = 1 for each) and non-compliance with anti-seizure drugs (n = 1). A decreased T-score (-1.04 ± 1.15) and Z-score (-0.84 ± 0.75) compared to healthy subjects were found. CONCLUSION Fractures in upper extremities, trunk and craniocerebral trauma occur frequently as seizure-induced injuries. Alcohol excess and withdrawal are important provoking factors and should be targeted with preventive measurements to avoid seizure related injuries and accidents.
Accidents ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy* ; Epilepsy ; Fractures, Bone ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures/therapy* ; Wounds and Injuries

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is on the rise, traumatic events and their consequences are often hidden or minimized by patients for reasons linked to PTSD itself. Traumatic experiences can be broadly classified into mental stress (MS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the cellular mechanisms of MS- or TBI-induced PTSD remain unknown. Recent evidence has shown that the morphological remodeling of astrocytes accompanies and arguably contributes to fearful memories and stress-related disorders. In this review, we summarize the roles of astrocytes in the pathogenesis of MS-PTSD and TBI-PTSD. Astrocytes synthesize and secrete neurotrophic, pro- and anti-inflammatory factors and regulate the microenvironment of the nervous tissue through metabolic pathways, ionostatic control, and homeostatic clearance of neurotransmitters. Stress or trauma-associated impairment of these vital astrocytic functions contribute to the pathophysiological evolution of PTSD and may present therapeutic targets.
Astrocytes ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic ; Fear ; Humans ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/therapy*

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) contributes to the key causative elements of neurological deficits. However, no effective therapeutics have been developed yet. In our previous work, extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) offered new insights as potential strategies for functional recovery of TBI. The current study aims to elucidate the mechanism of action, providing novel therapeutic targets for future clinical interventions. With the miRNA array performed and Real-time PCR validated, we revealed the crucial function of miR-330-5p transferred by SHED-derived EVs (SHED-EVs) in regulating microglia, the critical immune modulator in central nervous system. MiR-330-5p targeted Ehmt2 and mediated the transcription of CXCL14 to promote M2 microglia polarization and inhibit M1 polarization. Identified in our in vivo data, SHED-EVs and their effector miR-330-5p alleviated the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and resumed the motor functional recovery of TBI rats. In summary, by transferring miR-330-5p, SHED-EVs favored anti-inflammatory microglia polarization through Ehmt2 mediated CXCL14 transcription in treating traumatic brain injury.
Animals ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy* ; Chemokines, CXC/metabolism* ; Extracellular Vesicles/metabolism* ; Histocompatibility Antigens/metabolism* ; Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase/metabolism* ; Humans ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Microglia/metabolism* ; Rats ; Stem Cells/metabolism*

PURPOSE: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) generally causes mortality and disability, particularly in children. Machine learning (ML) is a computer algorithm, applied as a clinical prediction tool. The present study aims to assess the predictability of ML for the functional outcomes of pediatric TBI. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed targeting children with TBI who were admitted to the trauma center of southern Thailand between January 2009 and July 2020. The patient was excluded if he/she (1) did not undergo a CT scan of the brain, (2) died within the first 24 h, (3) had unavailable complete medical records during admission, or (4) was unable to provide updated outcomes. Clinical and radiologic characteristics were collected such as vital signs, Glasgow coma scale score, and characteristics of intracranial injuries. The functional outcome was assessed using the King's Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury, which was thus dichotomized into favourable outcomes and unfavourable outcomes: good recovery and moderate disability were categorized as the former, whereas death, vegetative state, and severe disability were categorized as the latter. The prognostic factors were estimated using traditional binary logistic regression. By data splitting, 70% of data were used for training the ML models and the remaining 30% were used for testing the ML models. The supervised algorithms including support vector machines, neural networks, random forest, logistic regression, naive Bayes and k-nearest neighbor were performed for training of the ML models. Therefore, the ML models were tested for the predictive performances by the testing datasets. RESULTS: There were 828 patients in the cohort. The median age was 72 months (interquartile range 104.7 months, range 2-179 months). Road traffic accident was the most common mechanism of injury, accounting for 68.7%. At hospital discharge, favourable outcomes were achieved in 97.0% of patients, while the mortality rate was 2.2%. Glasgow coma scale score, hypotension, pupillary light reflex, and subarachnoid haemorrhage were associated with TBI outcomes following traditional binary logistic regression; hence, the 4 prognostic factors were used for building ML models and testing performance. The support vector machine model had the best performance for predicting pediatric TBI outcomes: sensitivity 0.95, specificity 0.60, positive predicted value 0.99, negative predictive value 1.0; accuracy 0.94, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.78. CONCLUSION The ML algorithms of the present study have a high sensitivity; therefore they have the potential to be screening tools for predicting functional outcomes and counselling prognosis in general practice of pediatric TBIs.
Bayes Theorem ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy* ; Child ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: Hypertonic fluids such as mannitol and half-molar sodium lactate are given to treat intracranial hypertension in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this study, sodium lactate was compared to mannitol in patients with TBI to investigate the efficacy in reducing intracranial pressure (ICP). METHODS: This study was a systematic review with literature research on articles published in any year in the databases of PubMed, ScienceDirect, Asian Journal of Neurosurgery, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The keywords were "half-molar sodium lactate", "mannitol", "cerebral edema or brain swelling", and "severe traumatic brain injury". The inclusion criteria were (1) studies published in English, (2) randomized control trials or retrospective/prospective studies on TBI patients, and (3) therapies including half-molar sodium lactate and mannitol and (4) sufficient data such as mean difference (MD) and risk ratio (RR). Data analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: From 1499 studies, a total of 8 studies were eligible. Mannitol group reduced ICP of 0.65 times (MD 0.65; p = 0.64) and improved cerebral perfusion pressure of 0.61 times (MD 0.61; p = 0.88), better than the half-molar group of sodium lactate. But the half-molar group of sodium lactate maintained the mean arterial pressure level of 0.86 times, better than the mannitol group (MD 0.86; p = 0.09). CONCLUSION Half-molar sodium lactate is as effective as mannitol in reducing ICP in the early phase of brain injury, superior over mannitol in an extended period. It is able to prevent intracranial hypertension and give better brain tissue perfusion as well as more stable hemodynamics. Blood osmolarity is a concern as it increases serum sodium.
Brain Edema ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/drug therapy* ; Diuretics, Osmotic/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Intracranial Hypertension/etiology* ; Intracranial Pressure ; Mannitol/therapeutic use* ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Saline Solution, Hypertonic ; Sodium Lactate

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of scalp acupuncture on cognitive dysfunction of traumatic brain injury. METHODS: Seventy patients with cognitive dysfunction of traumatic brain injury were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 35 cases in each group. After treatment, 5 cases dropped off in each group. The patients in the control group were treated with cognitive training; the patients in the observation group were treated with cognitive training and scalp acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Zhisanzhen and Niesanzhen, and the needles were retained for 6 h. The two groups were treated once a day, 6 times a week; one-month treatment was taken as one course, and 3 continuous courses were given. The scores of mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), activity of daily living (ADL) and functional independence measure (FIM) were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the MMSE and MoCA scores in the observation group, and ADL and FIM scores in the two groups were significantly increased after treatment ( CONCLUSION Scalp acupuncture could improve cognitive function and self-care ability of daily life in patients with traumatic brain injury.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy* ; Cognition ; Humans ; Scalp ; Self Care