Outcome after traumatic frontal intracerebral haemorrhage: a comparison of unilateral and bilateral haematomas

Frontal intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is a common result of cranial trauma. Outcome differences between bilateral and unilateral frontal ICH are not well studied but would be valuable to predict prognosis in clinical practice. Two aims are proposed in this study: first to compare the risk of developing delayed ICH after bilateral or unilateral frontal ICH, and second to determine the variables helpful to predict outcome according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). Between January 1993 and December 1997, 694 consecutive patients with traumatic ICH were admitted to the Chang Gung Medical Center within 24 h of the trauma. Patients with ICH in sites other than the frontal lobes were excluded. A total of 161 cases (mean age 46.3+/-20.3 years), including 57 bilateral (mean age 52.5+/-18.7 years) and 104 unilateral (mean age 42.9+/-20.5 years) traumatic frontal ICH were studied. Twenty-eight of 57 patients (49%) with bifrontal ICH versus 17 of 104 patients (16%) with unilateral frontal ICH had a further, delayed ICH. In 42 of 45 patients (93%) with delayed ICH, this occurred within 5 days of the initial trauma. Multivariate logistic regression was used to select significant predictors of outcome. We found that delayed ICH (p<0.001), age (p=0.004) and mechanism of injury (p=0.001) explained the worse outcome in patients with bifrontal ICH. The best-fitting logistic regression model included three variables: delayed ICH (p=0.011), initial GCS (p=0.023), and a sum score of clinical and radiological variables (p=0.003). Bifrontal ICH tended to occur in older patients after a fall and was associated with a higher risk of developing delayed ICH or brain stem compression compared to unilateral ICH damage. Using these three variables - delayed ICH, initial GCS, and the sum score - in a logistical regression model is useful to predict outcome in patients with traumatic frontal ICH and may aid patient management.     

股骨头缺血性坏死的病理和影像学研究进展

目的：探讨股骨头缺血坏死的病理和影像学研究进展情况。方法：阅读并分析关于股骨头缺血坏死的文献。结果：影像学检查反映疾病的病理改变，在诊断中占有重要地位。结论：磁共振成像具有很高的敏感性和准确性，不仅能发现股骨头坏死的早期病变，且能反映病变的范围和程度，对早期诊断和治疗具有积极意义。     

自体骨髓移植治疗股骨头无菌性坏死

Objective To investigate the effectiveness and mechanism of transplantation of autol-ogous bone marrow in treating femoral head necrosis. Methods Sixty New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into groups A,B,and C after establishment of the models of femoral head necrosis. The left femoral head served as the control one,and the right as the experimental group. The mitoxantrone (0.1 mg/kg) with the help of DSA was injected into the femoral head of group A. One ml autologous bone marrow was injected into the femoral head of group B. In group C,mitoxantrone (0. 1 mg/kg) was injected,and 72 h later,1 ml autologous bone marrow was injected. Four months later,all rabbits were killed,and the femoral heads were removed and observed histologically and electron microscopically. Results The number of necrotic osteoclasts in groups A and B showed no significant difference ( P > 0.05 ), ande in group C, the number of necrotic femoral heads at the left and fight sides was 40. 60±4.11 and 21.33±2.16 respec-tively ( P < 0.05 ). At the experimental side of group C, the structure of majority bone cells was clear and intact,and necrosis was occasionally seen. Conclusion At the cellular level, local chemotherapy and au-tologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation had certain effectiveness for aseptic necrosis of the femoral head.     

Diagrammatic recording of head and neck tumours1

The increasing demands of clinical audit have resulted in the need for accurate data collection. The use of tumour maps allows standardization of the records of patients with head and neck cancer, which facilitates collation of data in multicentre studies and makes interdepartmental comparisons more meaningful. The aim of this study was to develop an improved standard set of tumour maps for recording the stage of head and neck tumours. A review of the existing tumour diagrams was performed to identify those anatomical areas that are not adequately represented or where ambiguity exists. The areas where improvements could be made were identified as: (1) the anterior commissure of the larynx; (2) axial and sagittal views of the larynx; (3) the pyriform fossa and cervical oesophagus; (4) the oropharynx and vallecula; (5) the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses; and (6) cervical nodal involvement. A new set of tumour maps is presented in an attempt to correct some of the limitations of the existing diagrams.     

重型颅脑损伤后凝血功能变化的研究

目的研究重型颅脑损伤后凝血功能的变化及临床意义。方法对本院2005年3月至2006年2月收治的26例重型单纯性颅脑损伤患者（GCS≤8分）进行前瞻性研究，监测其入院当时、入院第2天、第3天及第7天的部分凝血活酶时间（APTT），凝血酶原时间（PT），纤维蛋白原（FIB）及凝血时间（TT）的变化。并检测14例单纯头部外伤患者在入院时的APTT、PT、FIB和TT值。结果APTT在入院3天明显升高。1周后仍未达到正常（P〈0．05）；PT在入院当天即升高（P〈0．05），1周左右逐步恢复正常；FIB在入院当天即升高，第3天下降（P〈0．05），1周左右逐步恢复正常。有3例按照DIC诊断标准诊断为DIC，结果在观察期间均死亡。结论重型颅脑损伤后可发生凝血功能异常，且外凝性凝血途径的启动早于内源性凝血途径。伤后早期即可发生高凝状态，至第3天左右向低凝状态转变，1周左右恢复正常。     

Treatment Outcomes in Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension: Do Epidural Blood Patches Stop the Leaks?

Abstract:   Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is a postural headache syndrome unrelated to dural puncture. Because of the increasing failure of epidural blood patch (EBP) to relieve headache in SIH, we retrospectively investigated the epidemiological features and treatment outcomes in 55 cases of SIH. The study population was stratified by age and sex; continuous variables were compared for differences by t -tests; categorical variables were compared by Chi-squared analysis or Fisher exact tests. Significant differences were identified by P values of 0.05 or less. The mean age of the study population was 44 ± 12 years with a female to male ratio of 1.3:1.0. Men presented with subdural hematomas ( P  = 0.001) more often than women. Meningeal enhancement on contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was the most consistent radiographic finding. Radionuclide cisternography (RC) demonstrated thoracolumbar dural leaks in 16 of 22 patients. EBP failures were more common in patients aged 40 and younger than in older patients ( P  = 0.003). Postural headache from SIH was not uniformly responsive to EBP, and had significant comorbidities, especially in men. The management of postural headache in SIH by other techniques to restore brain position and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics should be investigated.     

股骨头骨坏死样本空间结构的Micro-CT评估

目的以股骨头骨坏死样本的Micro-CT断层图像为基础，对其进行空间结构评估。方法2003年11月～2005年6月，收集股骨头骨坏死患者行全髋关节置换术时取出的股骨头样本6个，对样本进行Micro-CT断层扫描，获取股骨头骨坏死样本的计算机三维图像，图像空间分辨率为36μm×36μm×36μm。手工选取兴趣区，随后采用骨体积分数（BV／TV）、骨小梁间隙（Tb．Sp）、骨小梁厚度（Tb，Th）、骨小梁数目（Tb．N）、骨表面积体积比（BS／BV）、结构模型指数（SMI）、骨小梁模型因子（Tb．Pf）等三维空间参数分别对股骨头骨坏死标本的正常区域、硬化带和塌陷区进行评价。结果晚期股骨头骨坏死硬化区和塌陷区的骨小梁空间结构明显改变：硬化区Bv／Tv明显增加，Tb．Th明显增厚，Tb，Sp变窄，SMI与正常区域的骨小梁无差别；而塌陷区Bv／Tv明显减少，BS／BV增大，Tb．N和Tb．Pf增加，Tb，Th改变不明显。结论Micro-CT作为一种新的检测手段，能够在不损伤样本的条件下快速获取股骨头骨坏死样本断层图像，具有精度高、检测快、可进行三维重建分析的优点。晚期股骨头骨坏死不同区域的骨三维结构呈现出不同的空间结构特征。     

Catastrophic failure of modular Zirconia—Ceramic femoral head components after total hip arthroplasty

Catastrophic failure of two zirconia—ceramic modular femoral heads occurred, despite the theoretical improved toughness of zirconia—ceramic relative to alumina—ceramic. This experience led the authors to return to cobalt—chromium as the metal of choice for articulation against polyethylene in total hip arthroplasty.     

Hyperaemia prior to acute cerebral swelling in severe head injuries: The role of transcranial doppler monitoring

Summary Acute cerebrovascular congestion after a closed head injury is significantly related to intracranial hypertension. As an indirect method of cerebral blood flow measurement, transcranial doppler sonography (TCD) provides a rapid and noninvasive assessment of cerebral haemodynamics, including hyperaemic conditions.TCD examinations was serially performed in 35 patients with severe head injury with intact cerebral circulation; i.e. the mean flow velocity (MFV) patterns of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) did not show signs of cerebral circulatory arrest such as systolic spike, to and fro, or no flow. The results showed that the MFV of the MCAs and ipsilateral extracranial internal carotid arteries (ICAs) in 9 of these patients increased sharply and pulsatility index (PI) decreased during 48–96 hours after the injury. This was soon followed by patterns of high intracranial resistance, consistent with elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) in monitored patients and acute brain swelling on repeated computed tomographic (CT) scans. The correlation between increased MFVs, decreased PIs, and cerebral haemodynamic changes leading to acute brain swelling is discussed.The number of patients who ended with severe disability, vegetative state, or death was 66% in this group of 9 patients, compared to only 34% for the 35 patients overall with severe head injury. Though the morbidity and mortality rates largely depend on the primary injury, the presence of acute cerebral swelling aggravate the grave course in these patients. And the ability of TCD to monitor the hyperaemic state prior to oedema should lead us to adjust the therapy in order to minimize the secondary insult related to intracranial hypertension.     

Short-term lack of cerebral perfusion with good outcome. Advantages of early intracranial pressure monitoring

A 21-year-old man was injured by a tailboard of a truck. He suffered a severe head injury with bilateral depressed skull fractures necessitating surgical decompression. On admission to the hospital the patient showed bending to pain stimuli (Glasgow Coma Score 5). Anisocoria was noticed from the beginning. Initial intracranial pressure (ICP), measured 3 hours after injury, was 30 mm Hg, and the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) was 70 mm Hg. During surgical elevation of the skull fracture on the right side an unexplainable rise of ICP to values of 100 mm Hg occurred, which corresponded to the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP). At the same time both pupils were dilated and fixed indicating a lack of cerebral perfusion. Due to immediate trephination of the opposite side, the ICP was lowered to values below 20 mm Hg, and sufficient cerebral perfusion (above 50 mm Hg) was regained. The patient showed a good recovery and was transferred to a rehabilitation center 5 weeks after injury.This case report emphasizes the importance of early and continuous intracranial pressure monitoring for adequate therapy in neurosurgical emergencies.