Cerebral angiography. Its use in acute head injuries and undiagnosed coma.
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One of the major factors in treating a patient with acute alteration of consciousness is to determine if progressive intracranial hemorrhage is present. Similar problems are encountered in cases of cerebrovascular disease where increasingly effective medical and surgical methods of treatment are available. Progressive cerebral thrombosis can be arrested by anticoagulants, intracranial hemorrhage can be controlled and atheromatous occlusion of a major artery can be corrected. Intracranial mass lesions can be detected when the history is not available or is misleading. Cerebral angiography is a relatively safe diagnostic test that is certainly preferable to delayed or haphazard treatment when an exact diagnosis is uncertain in an unconscious patient. (+info)
Spatiomotor cueing in unilateral left neglect: three case studies of its therapeutic effects.
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Limb activation contralateral to a cerebral lesion seems to reduce visual neglect, though whether this is due to perceptual cueing or hemispheric activation is controversial. Three case studies are presented which attempt to use this experimental finding therapeutically in the rehabilitation of unilateral left neglect. The first study used a combination of perceptual anchoring training with left arm activation procedures and produced improvements. The second used the same method, but stimulated left arm activation using an avoidance conditioning procedure, again with positive results. The third case treatment focused on cueing for left arm activation without explicit instructions for perceptual anchoring, with positive results. (+info)
Small-sized acute subdural hematoma: operate or not.
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A retrospective study of 90 cases of small-sized (less than 3 mm on the printed CT film) acute (within 24 hours) subdural hematoma (SASDH) is presented. From March 1985 to December 1986, the SASDH were immediately operated on (operation rate: 86.0%). From January 1988 to December 1989, we attempted to treat them conservatively (operation rate: 49.1%). The patient population for this study consisted of 38 surgically-treated patients in the first period (Group I), 26 surgically-treated patients in the second period (Group IIs), and 26 conservatively-treated patients in the second period (Group IIc). We compared the clinical features, radiologic findings, and outcome of these 3 groups. The clinical features of Group I, including age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission, pupillary status on arrival, and interval from injury to the CT, did not differ significantly from those of Group II (P greater than 0.01). The only difference was the timing of the operation. In Group I, 20 patients (52.6%) received an operation within 4 hours, while in Group IIs, only 7 patients (26.9%) underwent surgery within 4 hours (P less than 0.05). The radiologic findings of Group I, including the thickness and volume of the hematoma, the degree of midline shift, and the frequency of skull fracture, also did not differ from those of Group II (P greater than 0.1). However, the outcome of Group II strikingly differed from that of Group I. The mortality rate was 76.3% in Group I, while it was 44.2% in Group II (P less than 0.005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) (+info)
Acute-on-chronic subdural haematoma: a rare complication after spinal anaesthesia.
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An 88-year-old woman with an undiagnosed chronic subdural haematoma underwent emergency repair of a femoral hernia under spinal anaesthesia. The patient complained of headache postoperatively, and a subsequent computed tomography brain scan showed an acute-on-chronic subdural haematoma, with midline shift and impending coning. The patient recovered completely after surgical decompression. The difficulty in diagnosing chronic subdural haematoma in the elderly patient with no history of trauma is discussed, along with the differential diagnosis of headache following spinal anaesthetic in this age-group. (+info)
Subdural hemorrhage associated with falcine meningioma.
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A case of falcine meningioma associated with acute subdural hemorrhage is reported. The possible mechanisms of hemorrhage in the case are discussed. We believe that an early recognition and surgery can prevent neurological deterioration. (+info)
Subdural hematomas of the posterior fossa are very rare and most cases are related to head injury. The influence of anticoagulation in cases of spontaneous development is well known. Although diagnosis is easily achieved by CT sean, atypical forms may lead to the wrong diagnosis of cerebellar hematoma. We present a case of a posterior fossa acute subdural hematoma occurring in an anticoagulated patient who was preoperatively misdiagnosed as an intracerebellar hemorrhage. (+info)
Infectious endocarditis associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage, subdural hematoma and multiple brain abscesses.
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Hemorrhagic stroke is a complication of infectious endocarditis (IE), and severe hemorrhage accompanies Staphylococcus aureus IE during early uncontrolled infection. However, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) or subdural hematoma is rare. A case of S. aureus IE associated with SAH and subdural hematoma in the early stage is reported. A 54-year-old man with a history of mitral valve prolapse presented with fever. Two days after the onset, he fell into a confused state with convulsion and left hemiparesis. He became comatose and brain CT and MRI demonstrated SAH and subdural hematoma with severe right hemisphere swelling. Multiple brain abscesses were also observed. No septic aneurysm was detected by cerebral angiography. (+info)
Outcome of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury amongst the elderly in Singapore.
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INTRODUCTION: In line with other established protocols, our unit has instituted a standardised protocol for the management of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury since 1996 in our neurointensive care unit. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the outcomes, at 6 months' post-injury, in an elderly group aged > or = 64 years (73.86 +/- 8.0 years) and compared them to a younger group aged 20 to 40 years (29.2 +/- 5.7 years) in a cohort of 324 patients. Outcome was dichotomised as favourable (mild and moderate disability but independent; Glasgow Outcome Score [GOS] 4 and 5), unfavourable (severe disability and persistent vegetative state; GOS 2 and 3) and death (GOS 1). RESULTS: In the elderly group, the mortality (55.4%) was slightly more than double that of the younger group (20.9%); 21.5% had an unfavourable outcome (14.2% in the younger group) and only 23% had a favourable outcome (compared to 64.9% in the younger group). The final outcomes were significantly worse in all levels in the elderly group. This was in spite of data showing that the mechanism of injury was of a higher impact in the younger group, with a higher incidence of polytrauma and cervical spine injury. On admission, the mean Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) was 8.3 +/- 3.91 for the elderly group and 8.59 +/- 4.05 for the younger group (P = 0.763). Computed tomography scan showed that the elderly had a higher incidence of mass lesions (extradural haematoma and subdural haematoma) and traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. A subgroup (29.2%) of elderly patients had no surgical intervention based on poor clinical/neurological status, premorbid functional status and pre-existing medical conditions, with their family's consent. The GCS of < or = 8, on admission, was significant (P <0.001) in predicting mortality in the elderly. In the elderly group, the female gender had a higher mortality rate (70.4%) than the males (44.7%) (P = 0.19). CONCLUSION: Age must be considered an independent factor in outcome prediction in the elderly with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury. A more conservative approach in the management of an elderly patient with severe head injury may be reasonable given its dismal outcomes after careful dialogue with the relatives. (+info)