Recommendations for the Critical Care Management of Devastating Brain Injury: Prognostication, Psychosocial, and Ethical Management

The prescribing patterns and effectiveness of sedatives and analgesics for severe traumatic brain injury patients in Taiwan

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major global health challenge associated with high mortality and morbidity. Secondary brain injury caused by disrupted intracranial pressure (ICP) regulation often necessitates sedation; however, guidelines lack specificity for TBI management.

METHODS

This study analyzed sedation and analgesia prescribing patterns and their outcomes in severe TBI patients in Taiwan using National Health Insurance Research Database data (2012-2019). Severe TBI patients intubated during intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization were included. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality, with sensitivity analyses for 14-day mortality and 30-day all-cause mortality excluding deaths within 3 days. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied to balance patient characteristics across groups. Mortality rates across groups were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. At the same time, the Cox proportional hazards model simultaneously assessed the impact of various risk factors, such as age and comorbidities, on mortality.

RESULTS

Among 6030 patients, sedation and analgesia patterns varied, with midazolam combined with opioids being the most common regimen. Compared to the reference group (sedatives with opioids), the risk of death was highest in the no-prescription group (HR = 2.73, 95 % CI = 2.60-2.86), followed by the sedation-only group (HR = 1.58, 95 % CI = 1.50-1.66) and the opioids-only group (HR = 1.49, 95 % CI = 1.42-1.57; all p < 0.0001). Sensitivity analyses confirmed consistent trends.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the importance of optimizing sedation practices and enhancing awareness to improve outcomes for severe TBI patients.

Neurosurgical management of the acute phase of adult and pediatric traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVE

To develop a multidisciplinary French framework addressing neurosurgical management in the initial phase of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adults and children.

DESIGN

A panel of 29 experts was formed at the request of the French Society of Neurosurgery (SFNC), with the participation of the French Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery (SFNCP), French Society of Private-Practice Neurosurgeons (SFNCL), French-Speaking Neurocritical Care and Neuro-Anesthesiology Society (ANARLF), French Society of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Perioperative Medicine (SFAR), French-Speaking Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Group (GFRUP), French Society of Neuroradiology (SFNR), French-Speaking Infectious Diseases Society (SPILF), and the French Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (SOFMER).

METHODS

Questions were formulated using the PICO (Patients, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) format, grouped into 7 categories: 1. Factors of poor prognosis, 2. Extradural hematoma, 3. Acute subdural hematoma, 4. Skull-base fracture and dural tear, 5. Penetrating traumatic brain injury, 6. Post-traumatic cerebrospinal fluid disorder, and 7. Pediatric specificities.

RESULTS

Synthesis by the experts and application of the GRADE® method resulted in the formulation of 45 recommendations. Strong consensus was reached for all recommendations at the first round of rating, CONCLUSION: There was a strong consensus among the experts on important interdisciplinary recommendations to improve the neurosurgical management of patients with TBI.

Grading Scores for Identifying Patients at Risk of Delayed Cerebral Ischemia and Neurological Outcome in Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Comparison of Receiver Operator Curve Analysis

BACKGROUND

Numerous grading scales were proposed for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to assess the likelihood of unfavorable neurological outcomes (UO) and the risk of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). We aimed to validate the Hemorrhage, Age, Treatment, Clinical Status, and Hydrocephalus (HATCH) score and the VASOGRADE, a simple grading scale for prediction of DCI after aneurysmal SAH.

METHODS

This was a retrospective single-center study of patients with nontraumatic SAH (January 2016 to December 2021) admitted to the intensive care unit. We performed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to assess the discriminative ability of the HATCH and the VASOGRADE to identify patients who had UO at 3 months (defined as Glasgow Outcome Scale score of 1-3), hospital mortality, and DCI and compared their performance with the World Federation of Neurosurgical Surgeons, the modified Fisher, the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scales. We performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess the association between HATCH and UO at 3 months and between VASOGRADE and DCI.

RESULTS

We included 262 consecutive patients with nontraumatic SAH. DCI was observed in 82 patients (31.3%), whereas 78 patients (29.8%) died during hospital stay and 133 patients (51%) had UO at 3 months. HATCH was independently associated with UO (odds ratio 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36-1.90) and had an area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of 0.83 (95% CI 0.77-0.88), comparable to the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (AUROC 0.84, 95% CI 0.79-0.89) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (AUROC 0.83, 95% CI 0.77-0.88).

CONCLUSIONS

Hemorrhage, Age, Treatment, Clinical Status, and Hydrocephalus and VASOGARDE scores had a good performance to predict UO or in-hospital mortality and DCI, respectively; however, their performance did not outperform nonspecific routinely used scores.

Shared Decision-Making for Patients with Stroke in Neurocritical Care: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

Decision-making for patients with stroke in neurocritical care is uniquely challenging because of the gravity and high preference sensitivity of these decisions. Shared decision-making (SDM) is recommended to align decisions with patient values. However, limited evidence exists on the experiences and perceptions of key stakeholders involved in SDM for neurocritical patients with stroke. This review aims to address this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of the experiences and perspectives of those involved in SDM for neurocritical stroke care to inform best practices in this context. A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted following the methodological guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), using the thematic synthesis approach outlined by Thomas and Harden. Database searches covered PubMed, CIHAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science from inception to July 2023, supplemented by manual searches. After screening, quality appraisal was performed using the JBI Appraisal Checklist. Data analysis comprised line-by-line coding, development of descriptive themes, and creation of analytical themes using NVivo 12 software. The initial search yielded 7,492 articles, with 94 undergoing full-text screening. Eighteen articles from five countries, published between 2010 and 2023, were included in the meta-synthesis. These studies focused on the SDM process, covering life-sustaining treatments (LSTs), palliative care, and end-of-life care, with LST decisions being most common. Four analytical themes, encompassing ten descriptive themes, emerged: prognostic uncertainty, multifaceted balancing act, tripartite role dynamics and information exchange, and influences of sociocultural context. These themes form the basis for a conceptual model offering deeper insights into the essential elements, relationships, and behaviors that characterize SDM in neurocritical care. This meta-synthesis of 18 primary studies offers a higher-order interpretation and an emerging conceptual understanding of SDM in neurocritical care, with implications for practice and further research. The complex role dynamics among SDM stakeholders require careful consideration, highlighting the need for stroke-specific communication strategies. Expanding the evidence base across diverse sociocultural settings is critical to enhance the understanding of SDM in neurocritical patients with stroke.Trial registration This study is registered with PROSPERO under the registration number CRD42023461608.

Emerging ethical issues in patients with disorders of consciousness: A clinical guide

Clinicians who manage patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) commonly encounter challenging ethical issues. Consciousness disorders include the vegetative state, the minimally conscious state, and covert consciousness resulting from cognitive-motor dissociation. The practice landscape of ethical issues encompasses making the correct diagnosis; making and communicating an accurate prognosis despite irreducible uncertainty; conducting effective shared decision-making with a lawful surrogate decision-maker to deliver goal-concordant care; providing optimal medical, rehabilitative, and palliative care across the spectrum of care sites: acute inpatient, neurorehabilitative, chronic, and palliative; respecting the human rights of and advocating for DoC patient, an historically under-served population and, when appropriate, properly participating in decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining therapy. Research and translational issues in DoC patients include the challenges posed by emerging diagnostics and therapeutics and their prudential integration into clinical practice in the service of patients and their families. Our conceptual analysis of these ethical issues and our practical advice to address them comprise the subject material of this chapter.

Resuscitation and Initial Management After Moderate-to-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Questions for the On-Call Shift

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability and mortality globally, stemming from both primary mechanical injuries and subsequent secondary responses. Effective early management of moderate-to-severe TBI is essential to prevent secondary damage and improve patient outcomes. This review provides a comprehensive guide for the resuscitation and stabilization of TBI patients, combining clinical experience with current evidence-based guidelines. Key areas addressed in this study include the identification and classification of severe TBI, intubation strategies, and optimized resuscitation targets to maintain cerebral perfusion. The management of coagulopathy and special considerations for patients with concomitant hemorrhagic shock are discussed in depth, along with recommendations for neurosurgical interventions. This article further explores the role of multimodal neuromonitoring and targeted temperature management to mitigate secondary brain injury. Finally, it discusses end-of-life care in cases of devastating brain injury (DBI). This practical review integrates foundational and recent advances in TBI management to aid in reducing secondary injuries and enhancing long-term recovery, presenting a multidisciplinary approach to support acute care decisions in TBI patients.

Navigating Neurologic Illness: Skills in Neuropalliative Care for Persons Hospitalized with Neurologic Disease

Persons hospitalized for neurologic illness face multidimensional care needs. They can benefit from a palliative care approach that focuses on quality of life for persons with serious illness. We describe neurology provider "skills" to help meet these palliative needs: assessing the patient as a whole; facilitating conversations with patients to connect prognosis to care preferences; navigating neurologic illness to prepare patients and care partners for the future; providing high-quality end-of-life care to promote peace in death; and addressing disparities in care delivery.

A Survey to Determine Health Utility States After a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Influence of a History of TBI on Disability Perceptions

Background The Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) has emerged as one of the most widely used outcome instruments for evaluating ongoing disability and recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The influence of a personal history of TBI on disability perception and quality of life is not well understood. This study aimed to assess changes in health utility states using the GOSE among individuals with severe TBI and their caregivers compared to a general population group. We hypothesized that individuals with a history of TBI, either as patients or caregivers, would recognize health utility associated with a more severe disability than the general population group. Methodology This cross-sectional, observational study included 300 individuals with a history of severe TBI, 300 designated primary caregivers or family members, with 1:1 participation for each subject with severe TBI, and 300 participants from the general population. A computer-based survey was developed based on the GOSE. Participants assessed hypothetical scenarios representing one-year post-TBI outcomes using a standard gamble approach. The main measure for this study was participants' perceptions of health-related quality of life and preferences for different GOSE health states following TBI. Results Of the 900 initial participants, 10 were excluded. Among the remaining 890 participants, lower GOSE states were rated to have lower health utilities. The general population group exhibited a notable decrease in health utility ratings from GOSE4 to GOSE3. Individuals with a history of severe TBI and their caregivers or family members experienced the most substantial decline in health utility ratings between GOSE3 and GOSE2. TBI and caregiver/family member status correlated with higher health utility ratings. Conclusions This study validated the use of the GOSE as a health utility metric and emphasized the subjective nature of acceptable outcomes. These findings underscore the need for considering personal experiences and preferences in decision-making regarding TBI care.

Recovery of consciousness after acute brain injury: a narrative review

BACKGROUND

Disorders of consciousness (DoC) are frequently encountered in both, acute and chronic brain injuries. In many countries, early withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments is common practice for these patients even though the accuracy of predicting recovery is debated and delayed recovery can be seen. In this review, we will discuss theoretical concepts of consciousness and pathophysiology, explore effective strategies for management, and discuss the accurate prediction of long-term clinical outcomes. We will also address research challenges.

MAIN TEXT

DoC are characterized by alterations in arousal and/or content, being classified as coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome/vegetative state, minimally conscious state, and confusional state. Patients with willful modulation of brain activity detectable by functional MRI or EEG but not by behavioral examination is a state also known as covert consciousness or cognitive motor dissociation. This state may be as common as every 4th or 5th patient without behavioral evidence of verbal command following and has been identified as an independent predictor of long-term functional recovery. Underlying mechanisms are uncertain but intact arousal and thalamocortical projections maybe be essential. Insights into the mechanisms underlying DoC will be of major importance as these will provide a framework to conceptualize treatment approaches, including medical, mechanical, or electoral brain stimulation.

CONCLUSIONS

We are beginning to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of DoC, identifying novel advanced prognostication tools to improve the accuracy of recovery predictions, and are starting to conceptualize targeted treatments to support the recovery of DoC patients. It is essential to determine how these advancements can be implemented and benefit DoC patients across a range of clinical settings and global societal systems. The Curing Coma Campaign has highlighted major gaps knowledge and provides a roadmap to advance the field of coma science with the goal to support the recovery of patients with DoC.

Clinical outcomes and end-of-life treatment in 596 patients with isolated traumatic brain injury: a retrospective comparison of two Dutch level-I trauma centers

PURPOSE

With an increasingly older population and rise in incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), end-of-life decisions have become frequent. This study investigated the rate of withdrawal of life sustaining treatment (WLST) and compared treatment outcomes in patients with isolated TBI in two Dutch level-I trauma centers.

METHODS

From 2011 to 2016, a retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥ 18 years with isolated moderate-to-severe TBI (Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) head ≥ 3) was conducted at the University Medical Center Rotterdam (UMC-R) and the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC-U). Demographics, radiologic injury characteristics, clinical outcomes, and functional outcomes at 3-6 months post-discharge were collected.

RESULTS

The study population included 596 patients (UMC-R: n = 326; UMC-U: n = 270). There were no statistical differences in age, gender, mechanism of injury, and radiologic parameters between both institutes. UMC-R patients had a higher AIShead (UMC-R: 5 [4-5] vs. UMC-U: 4 [4-5], p < 0.001). There was no difference in the prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). However, UMC-R patients had lower GCSs in the Emergency Department and used more prehospital sedation. Total in-hospital mortality was 29% (n = 170), of which 71% (n = 123) occurred after WLST. Two percent (n = 10) remained in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) state during follow-up.

DISCUSSION

This study demonstrated a high WLST rate among deceased patients with isolated TBI. Demographics and outcomes were similar for both centers even though AIShead was significantly higher in UMC-R patients. Possibly, prehospital sedation might have influenced AIS coding. Few patients persisted in UWS. Further research is needed on WLST patients in a broader spectrum of ethics, culture, and complex medical profiles, as it is a growing practice in modern critical care.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, retrospective cohort study.

Beliefs of physician directors on the management of devastating brain injuries at the Canadian emergency department and intensive care unit interface: a national site-level survey

PURPOSE

Insufficient evidence-based recommendations to guide care for patients with devastating brain injuries (DBIs) leave patients vulnerable to inconsistent practice at the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) interface. We sought to characterize the beliefs of Canadian emergency medicine (EM) and critical care medicine (CCM) physician site directors regarding current management practices for patients with DBI.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of EM and CCM physician directors of adult EDs and ICUs across Canada (December 2022 to March 2023). Our primary outcome was the proportion of respondents who manage (or consult on) patients with DBI in the ED. We conducted subgroup analyses to compare beliefs of EM and CCM physicians.

RESULTS

Of 303 eligible respondents, we received 98 (32%) completed surveys (EM physician directors, 46; CCM physician directors, 52). Most physician directors reported participating in the decision to withdraw life-sustaining measures (WLSM) for patients with DBI in the ED (80%, n = 78), but 63% of these (n = 62) said this was infrequent. Physician directors reported that existing neuroprognostication methods are rarely sufficient to support WLSM in the ED (49%, n = 48) and believed that an ICU stay is required to improve confidence (99%, n = 97). Most (96%, n = 94) felt that providing caregiver visitation time prior to WLSM was a valid reason for ICU admission.

CONCLUSION

In our survey of Canadian EM and CCM physician directors, 80% participated in WLSM in the ED for patients with DBI. Despite this, most supported ICU admission to optimize neuroprognostication and patient-centred end-of-life care, including organ donation.

Influence of health insurance on withdrawal of life sustaining treatment for patients with isolated traumatic brain injury: a retrospective multi-center observational cohort study

BACKGROUND

Healthcare inequities for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) represent a major priority area for trauma quality improvement. We hypothesized a relationship between health insurance status and timing of withdrawal of life sustaining treatment (WLST) for adults with severe TBI.

METHODS

This multicenter retrospective observational cohort study utilized data collected between 2017 and 2020. We identified adult (age ≥ 16) patients with isolated severe TBI admitted participating Trauma Quality Improvement Program centers. We determined the relationship between insurance status (public, private, and uninsured) and the timing of WLST using a competing risk survival analysis framework adjusting for baseline, clinical, injury and trauma center characteristics. Multivariable cause-specific Cox regressions were used to compute adjusted hazard ratios (HR) reflecting timing of WLST, accounting for mortality events. We also quantified the between-center residual variability in WLST using the median odds ratio (MOR) and measured insurance status association with access to rehabilitation at discharge.

RESULTS

We identified 42,111 adults with isolated severe TBI treated across 509 trauma centers across North America. There were 10,771 (25.6%) WLST events in the cohort and a higher unadjusted incidence of WLST events was evident in public insurance patients compared to private or uninsured groups. After adjustment, WLST occurred earlier for publicly insured (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.12) and uninsured patients (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.18-1.41) compared to privately insured patients. Access to rehabilitation was lower for both publicly insured and uninsured patients compared to patients with private insurance. Accounting for case-mix, the MOR was 1.49 (95% CI 1.43-1.55), reflecting significant residual between-center variation in WLST decision-making.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the presence of disparate WLST practices independently associated with health insurance status. Additionally, these results emphasize between-center variability in WLST, persisting despite adjustments for measurable patient and trauma center characteristics.

Traumatic Brain Injury as an Independent Predictor of Futility in the Early Resuscitation of Patients in Hemorrhagic Shock

This review explores the concept of futility timeouts and the use of traumatic brain injury (TBI) as an independent predictor of the futility of resuscitation efforts in severely bleeding trauma patients. The national blood supply shortage has been exacerbated by the lingering influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of blood donors available, as well as by the adoption of balanced hemostatic resuscitation protocols (such as the increasing use of 1:1:1 packed red blood cells, plasma, and platelets) with and without early whole blood resuscitation. This has underscored the urgent need for reliable predictors of futile resuscitation (FR). As a result, clinical, radiologic, and laboratory bedside markers have emerged which can accurately predict FR in patients with severe trauma-induced hemorrhage, such as the Suspension of Transfusion and Other Procedures (STOP) criteria. However, the STOP criteria do not include markers for TBI severity or transfusion cut points despite these patients requiring large quantities of blood components in the STOP criteria validation cohort. Yet, guidelines for neuroprognosticating patients with TBI can require up to 72 h, which makes them less useful in the minutes and hours following initial presentation. We examine the impact of TBI on bleeding trauma patients, with a focus on those with coagulopathies associated with TBI. This review categorizes TBI into isolated TBI (iTBI), hemorrhagic isolated TBI (hiTBI), and polytraumatic TBI (ptTBI). Through an analysis of bedside parameters (such as the proposed STOP criteria), coagulation assays, markers for TBI severity, and transfusion cut points as markers of futilty, we suggest amendments to current guidelines and the development of more precise algorithms that incorporate prognostic indicators of severe TBI as an independent parameter for the early prediction of FR so as to optimize blood product allocation.

Palliative Care of Stroke Patients

Critical care clinicians frequently care for patients with acute brain injury, such as stroke. Regardless of the severity of the neurologic insult, these patients have life-altering deficits that threaten their personal identity and quality of life. The sudden nature of the injury often means that there has been little discussion between patients and their families about life-sustaining treatments, and most patients are unable to speak for themselves because of impaired cognition and communication. Thus, individuals experiencing stroke and their families present clinicians with unique and complex care needs in the acute care setting. Key professional organizations have endorsed the early integration of palliative care into the treatment of patients with stroke and devastating neurologic injury. Implementing interdisciplinary primary or specialty palliative care helps clinicians adopt a patient-centered approach to care and aids in decision-making.

A National Survey on Coma Epidemiology, Evaluation, and Therapy in India: Revisiting the Curing Coma Campaign Come Together Survey

BACKGROUND

The limited representation from developing countries in the original COME TOGETHER survey gave us an impetus to conduct this survey in the Indian subcontinent.

METHODS

This cross-sectional online survey was conducted from August through September 2022. Participants were health care physicians caring for patients with coma and disorders of consciousness. Fischer's exact test or the Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare respondents who agreed or disagreed with the preestablished coma definition. Fleiss κ values were calculated to assess agreement among respondents. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The survey was completed by 130 physicians. We found substantial interrater agreement on absence of wakefulness (71.54%; κ = 0.71), Glasgow Coma Score ≤ 8 (78.46%; κ = 0.78), and failure to respond purposefully to visual, verbal, or tactile stimuli (66.15%; κ = 0.66). Reported common etiologies of coma included traumatic brain injury (50.76%), ischemic stroke (30%), and intracerebral hemorrhage (29.23%). The most common clinical assessment tools used for coma included the Glasgow Coma Score (92.3%) and neurological examination (60.8%). Neurological examination was the most common diagnostic tool used (100%), followed by magnetic resonance imaging (89.2%), basic laboratory studies (88.5%), and head computed tomography/angiography (86.9%). Pharmacological interventions used to stimulate arousal in patients with coma were sedation vacation (91.5%), electrolyte/endocrine correction (65.4%), osmotic therapy with mannitol (60%), hypertonic saline (54.6%), modafinil (46.9%), and antidote for drugs (45.4%). Among the nonpharmacological interventions, sensory stimulation (57.7%) was the most commonly used modality. The most common discharge disposition for comatose patients who survived hospitalization were home with or without services (70.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

Differences from the global survey were noted regarding the following: traumatic brain injury being the most common etiology of coma in India, more frequent practice of sedation interruption, less frequent use of electroencephalography in India, rare use of pharmacological neurostimulants, and home being the most common discharge disposition in India.

The use of frailty questionnaires in inpatients in two neurorehabilitation units in the East Midlands - A cross-sectional cohort study with follow-up to 1-year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation

BACKGROUND

Frailty correlates with poor clinical outcomes and is not routinely assessed in neurorehabilitation inpatient settings.

METHODS

We recruited adults from two neurorehabilitation units. We administered six validated tools for assessing frailty and collected data around length of stay, discharge, readmission and change in rehabilitation outcome measures.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight participants aged between 31 and 84 years were recruited with a range of neurological diagnoses. Frailty prevalence ranged between 23% and 46%, depending on the scale used, with little agreement between tools. Frailty status did not correlate with age, gender, length of stay, discharge destination and rehabilitation outcome measures. One-year readmission was higher in participants rated as frail by the Frail-Non-Disabled Questionnaire, the FRESH-screening questionnaire and the Clinical Frailty Scale.

CONCLUSION

Frailty ascertainment was variable depending on the tool used. Three frailty indices predicted readmission rate at 1 year but no other outcome measures. Therefore, frailty tools may have limited utility in this clinical population.

Brain computed tomography after resuscitation from in-hospital cardiac arrest

BACKGROUND

Few data characterize the role of brain computed tomography (CT) after resuscitation from in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA). We hypothesized that identifying a neurological etiology of arrest or cerebral edema on brain CT are less common after IHCA than after resuscitation from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

METHODS

We included all patients comatose after resuscitation from IHCA or OHCA in this retrospective cohort analysis. We abstracted patient and arrest clinical characteristics, as well as pH and lactate, to estimate systemic illness severity. Brain CT characteristics included quantitative measurement of the grey-to-white ratio (GWR) at the level of the basal ganglia and qualitative assessment of sulcal and cisternal effacement. We compared GWR distribution by stratum (no edema ≥1.30, mild-to-moderate <1.30 and >1.20, severe ≤1.20) and newly identified neurological arrest etiology between IHCA and OHCA groups.

RESULTS

We included 2,306 subjects, of whom 420 (18.2%) suffered IHCA. Fewer IHCA subjects underwent post-arrest brain CT versus OHCA subjects (149 (35.5%) vs 1,555 (82.4%), p < 0.001). Cerebral edema for IHCA versus OHCA was more often absent (60.1% vs. 47.5%) or mild-to-moderate (34.3% vs. 27.9%) and less often severe (5.6% vs. 24.6%). A neurological etiology of arrest was identified on brain CT in 0.5% of IHCA versus 3.2% of OHCA.

CONCLUSIONS

Although severe edema was less frequent in IHCA relative to OHCA, mild-to-moderate or severe edema occurred in one in three patients after IHCA. Unsuspected neurological etiologies of arrest were rarely discovered by CT scan in IHCA patients.

Assessing Outcomes of Patients Subject to Intensive Care to Facilitate Organ Donation: A Spanish Multicenter Prospective Study

Intensive Care to facilitate Organ Donation (ICOD) consists of the initiation or continuation of intensive care measures in patients with a devastating brain injury (DBI) in whom curative treatment is deemed futile and death by neurological criteria (DNC) is foreseen, to incorporate organ donation into their end-of-life plans. In this study we evaluate the outcomes of patients subject to ICOD and identify radiological and clinical factors associated with progression to DNC. In this first prospective multicenter study we tested by multivariate regression the association of clinical and radiological severity features with progression to DNC. Of the 194 patients, 144 (74.2%) patients fulfilled DNC after a median of 25 h (95% IQR: 17-44) from ICOD onset. Two patients (1%) shifted from ICOD to curative treatment, both were alive at discharge. Factors associated with progression to DNC included: age below 70 years, clinical score consistent with severe brain injury, instability, intracranial hemorrhage, midline shift ≥5 mm and certain types of brain herniation. Overall 151 (77.8%) patients progressed to organ donation. Based on these results, we conclude that ICOD is a beneficial and efficient practice that can contribute to the pool of deceased donors.

Guidelines for Neuroprognostication in Critically Ill Adults with Intracerebral Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND

The objective of this document is to provide recommendations on the formal reliability of major clinical predictors often associated with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) neuroprognostication.

METHODS

A narrative systematic review was completed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology and the Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Timing, Setting questions. Predictors, which included both individual clinical variables and prediction models, were selected based on clinical relevance and attention in the literature. Following construction of the evidence profile and summary of findings, recommendations were based on Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. Good practice statements addressed essential principles of neuroprognostication that could not be framed in the Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Timing, Setting format.

RESULTS

Six candidate clinical variables and two clinical grading scales (the original ICH score and maximally treated ICH score) were selected for recommendation creation. A total of 347 articles out of 10,751 articles screened met our eligibility criteria. Consensus statements of good practice included deferring neuroprognostication-aside from the most clinically devastated patients-for at least the first 48-72 h of intensive care unit admission; understanding what outcomes would have been most valued by the patient; and counseling of patients and surrogates whose ultimate neurological recovery may occur over a variable period of time. Although many clinical variables and grading scales are associated with ICH poor outcome, no clinical variable alone or sole clinical grading scale was suggested by the panel as currently being reliable by itself for use in counseling patients with ICH and their surrogates, regarding functional outcome at 3 months and beyond or 30-day mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

These guidelines provide recommendations on the formal reliability of predictors of poor outcome in the context of counseling patients with ICH and surrogates and suggest broad principles of neuroprognostication. Clinicians formulating their judgments of prognosis for patients with ICH should avoid anchoring bias based solely on any one clinical variable or published clinical grading scale.

Timing of withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy in traumatic brain injury: exploring indicators of poor prognosis in adult and geriatric populations

OBJECTIVE

The lack of objective prognostication tools for severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes variability in the application of withdrawal of life-saving treatment (WLST). We aimed to determine whether WLST in persons with severe TBI is associated with known indicators of poor prognosis.

METHODS

This retrospective descriptive study focused on adult (18-64 years) and geriatric (≥65 years) patients with severe TBI who were admitted between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2021 at a Level I trauma center and subsequently underwent WLST. The data collected from the Trauma Registry and electronic health records included information regarding demographic characteristics, injury severity, clinical variables, and length of hospital stay and were used to examine the indicators of poor prognosis and WLST.

RESULTS

Among the 164 participants with TBI who met the inclusion criteria, 61.0% were geriatric, and 122 (74.4%) patients had 0 or only 1 of the poor prognostic indicators prior to WLST. The non-geriatric group had more indicators of poor prognosis than the geriatric group. Participants with fewer indicators of poor prognosis had a longer length-of-stay.

CONCLUSION

In severe TBI cases, standardized prognostication tools can help guide informed WLST decisions, particularly in geriatric patients, improving care consistency.

Coma Prognostication After Acute Brain Injury: A Review

Importance

Among the most impactful neurologic assessments is that of neuroprognostication, defined here as the prediction of neurologic recovery from disorders of consciousness caused by severe, acute brain injury. Across a range of brain injury etiologies, these determinations often dictate whether life-sustaining treatment is continued or withdrawn; thus, they have major implications for morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Neuroprognostication relies on a diverse array of tests, including behavioral, radiologic, physiological, and serologic markers, that evaluate the brain's functional and structural integrity.

Observations

Prognostic markers, such as the neurologic examination, electroencephalography, and conventional computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have been foundational in assessing a patient's current level of consciousness and capacity for recovery. Emerging techniques, such as functional MRI, diffusion MRI, and advanced forms of electroencephalography, provide new ways of evaluating the brain, leading to evolving schemes for characterizing neurologic function and novel methods for predicting recovery.

Conclusions and Relevance

Neuroprognostic markers are rapidly evolving as new ways of assessing the brain's structural and functional integrity after brain injury are discovered. Many of these techniques remain in development, and further research is needed to optimize their prognostic utility. However, even as such efforts are underway, a series of promising findings coupled with the imperfect predictive value of conventional prognostic markers and the high stakes of these assessments have prompted clinical guidelines to endorse emerging techniques for neuroprognostication. Thus, clinicians have been thrust into an uncertain predicament in which emerging techniques are not yet perfected but too promising to ignore. This review illustrates the current, and likely future, landscapes of prognostic markers. No matter how much prognostic markers evolve and improve, these assessments must be approached with humility and individualized to reflect each patient's values.

Doctors and nurses subjective predictions of 6-month outcome compared to actual 6-month outcome for adult patients with spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) in neurocritical care: An observational study

Background

Acute spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage is a devastating form of stroke. Prognostication after ICH may be influenced by clinicians' subjective opinions.

Purpose

To evaluate subjective predictions of 6-month outcome by clinicians' for ICH patients in a neurocritical care using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and compare these to actual 6-month outcome.

Method

We included clinicians' predictions of 6-month outcome in the first 48 h for 52 adults with ICH and compared to actual 6-month outcome using descriptive statistics and multilevel binomial logistic regression.

Results

35/52 patients (66%) had a poor 6-month outcome (mRS 4-6); 19/52 (36%) had died. 324 predictions were included. For good (mRS 0-3) versus poor (mRS 4-6), outcome, accuracy of predictions was 68% and exact agreement 29%. mRS 6 and mRS 4 received the most correct predictions. Comparing job roles, predictions of death were underestimated, by doctors (12%) and nurses (13%) compared with actual mortality (36%). Predictions of vital status showed no significant difference between doctors and nurses: OR = 1.24 {CI; 0.50-3.05}; (p = 0.64) or good versus poor outcome: OR = 1.65 {CI; 0.98-2.79}; (p = 0.06). When predicted and actual 6-month outcome were compared, job role did not significantly relate to correct predictions of good versus poor outcome: OR = 1.13 {CI;0.67-1.90}; (p = 0.65) or for vital status: OR = 1.11 {CI; 0.47-2.61}; p = 0.81).

Conclusions

Early prognostication is challenging. Doctors and nurses were most likely to correctly predict poor outcome but tended to err on the side of optimism for mortality, suggesting an absence of clinical nihilism in relation to ICH.

Predicting 30-day mortality in intensive care unit patients with ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage

BACKGROUND

Stroke patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) follow a particular survival pattern with a high short-term mortality, but if they survive the first 30 days, a relatively favourable subsequent survival is observed.

OBJECTIVES

The development and validation of two prognostic models predicting 30-day mortality for ICU patients with ischaemic stroke and for ICU patients with intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), analysed separately, based on parameters readily available within 24 h after ICU admission, and with comparison with the existing Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE-IV) model.

DESIGN

Observational cohort study.

SETTING

All 85 ICUs participating in the Dutch National Intensive Care Evaluation database.

PATIENTS

All adult patients with ischaemic stroke or ICH admitted to these ICUs between 2010 and 2019.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Models were developed using logistic regressions and compared with the existing APACHE-IV model. Predictive performance was assessed using ROC curves, calibration plots and Brier scores.

RESULTS

We enrolled 14 303 patients with stroke admitted to ICU: 8422 with ischaemic stroke and 5881 with ICH. Thirty-day mortality was 27% in patients with ischaemic stroke and 41% in patients with ICH. Important factors predicting 30-day mortality in both ischaemic stroke and ICH were age, lowest Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score in the first 24 h, acute physiological disturbance (measured using the Acute Physiology Score) and the application of mechanical ventilation. Both prognostic models showed high discrimination with an AUC 0.85 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.84 to 0.87] for patients with ischaemic stroke and 0.85 (0.83 to 0.86) in ICH. Calibration plots and Brier scores indicated an overall good fit and good predictive performance. The APACHE-IV model predicting 30-day mortality showed similar performance with an AUC of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.85 to 0.87) in ischaemic stroke and 0.87 (0.86 to 0.89) in ICH.

CONCLUSION

We developed and validated two prognostic models for patients with ischaemic stroke and ICH separately with a high discrimination and good calibration to predict 30-day mortality within 24 h after ICU admission.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Trial registration: Dutch Trial Registry ( https://www.trialregister.nl/ ); identifier: NTR7438.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of traumatic brain injury in patients admitted to surgical ward of Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia: a prospective observational follow-up study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Traumatic Brain Injury in Patients Admitted to the Surgical Ward of Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia from January to July 2022.

DESIGN AND SETTING

A hospital-based prospective observational study was conducted among 175 patients admitted with Traumatic Brain Injury at Jimma Medical Center from January to July 2022. Data were collected by structured questionnaires and a convenient sampling technique was used. For data entry, Epidata V.4.6.0.5 software was used and exported to Stata V.14.0.2 for analysis. The Cox regression model was fitted to evaluate the predictors of mortality and variables with a p value <0.05 at 95% CI were taken as statistically significant predictors.

RESULTS

The incidence of in-hospital mortality was 22 (12.6%). The mean length of hospital stay was 6 days. In-hospital complications were recorded in 32.0% of patients. A Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of <8 on admission (adjusted HR (AHR)=6.2, 95% CI 0.75 to 51), hyperthermia (AHR: 1.7, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.05) and lack of prehospital care (AHR: 3.2, 95% CI 2.2 to 8.07) were predictors of mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury.

CONCLUSION

In-hospital mortality was recorded in over one-tenth of patients with traumatic brain injury. The GCS score of <8 on admission, hyperthermia and lack of prehospital care positively affected the outcome of patients with traumatic brain injury. Screening of patients for hyperthermia and antipsychotics should be strengthened to reduce death. However, a multicentred study is needed for further evidence. Giving priority to the patients with those predictors will decrease the number of deaths.

Limitation of life sustaining measures in neurocritical care: sex, timing, and advance directive

BACKGROUND

The limitation of life sustaining treatments (LLST) causes ethical dilemmas even in patients faced with poor prognosis, which applies to many patients admitted to a Neurocritical Care Unit (NCCU). The effects of social and cultural aspects on LLST in an NCCU population remain poorly studied.

METHODS

All NCCU patients between 01.2018 and 08.2021 were included. Medical records were reviewed for: demographics, diagnosis, severity of disease, and outcome. Advance directives (AD) and LLST discussions were reviewed evaluating timing, degree, and reason for LLST. Social/cultural factors (nationality, language spoken, religion, marital status, relationship to/sex of legal representative) were noted. Associations between these factors and the patients' sex, LLST timing, and presence of AD were evaluated.

RESULTS

Out of 2975 patients, 12% of men and 10.5% of women underwent LLST (p = 0.30). Women, compared to men, more commonly received withdrawal instead of withholding of life sustaining treatments (57.5 vs. 45.1%, p = 0.028) despite comparable disease severity. Women receiving LLST were older (73 ± 11.7 vs. 69 ± 14.9 years, p = 0.005) and often without a partner (43.8 vs. 25.8%, p = 0.001) compared to men. AD were associated with female sex and early LLST, but not with an increased in-hospital mortality (57.1 vs. 75.2% of patients with and without AD respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients receiving LLST, the presence of an AD was associated with an increase of early LLST, but not with an increased in-hospital mortality. This supports the notion that the presence of an AD is primarily an expression of the patients' will but does not per se predestine the patient for an unfavorable outcome.

Treatment-limiting decisions in patients with severe traumatic brain injury in the Netherlands

Introduction

Treatment-limiting decisions (TLDs) can be inevitable severe traumatic brain injury (s-TBI) patients, but data on their use remain scarce.

Research question

To investigate the prevalence, timing and considerations of TLDs in s-TBI patients.

Material and methods

s-TBI patients between 2008 and 2017 were analysed retrospecively. Patient data, timing, location, involvement of proxies, and reasons for TLDs were collected. Baseline characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared between s-TBI patients with and without TLDs.

Results

TLDs were reported in 117 of 270 s-TBI patients (43.3%) and 95.9% of deaths after s-TBI were preceded by a TLD. The majority of TLDs (68.4%) were categorized as withdrawal of therapy, of which withdrawal of organ-support in 64.1%. Neurosurgical intervention was withheld in 29.9%. The median time from admission to TLD was 2 days [IQR, 0-8] and 50.4% of TLDs were made within 3 days of admission. The main reason for a TLD was that the patients were perceived as unsalvageable (66.7%). Nearly all decisions were made multidisciplinary (99.1%) with proxies involvement (75.2%). The predicted mortality (CRASH-score) between patients with and without TLDs were 72.6 vs. 70.6%. The percentage of TLDs in s-TBI patients increased from 20.0% in 2008 to 42.9% in 2012 and 64.3% in 2017.

Discussion and conclusion

TLDs occurred in almost half of s-TBI patients and were instituted more frequently over time. Half of TLDs were made within 3 days of admission in spite of baseline prognosis between groups being similar. Future research should address whether prognostic nihilism contributes to self-fulfilling prophecies.

Recent Trends in the Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatment in Patients with Acute Cerebrovascular Disease : 2017-2021

OBJECTIVE

The Act on Life-Sustaining Treatment (LST) decisions for end-of-life patients has been effective since February 2018. An increasing number of patients and their families want to withhold or withdraw from LST when medical futility is expected. This study aimed to investigate the status of the Act on LST decisions for patients with acute cerebrovascular disease at a single hospital.

METHODS

Between January 2017 and December 2021, 227 patients with acute cerebrovascular diseases, including hemorrhagic stroke (n=184) and ischemic stroke (n=43), died at the hospital. The study period was divided into the periods before and after the Act.

RESULTS

The duration of hospitalization decreased after the Act was implemented compared to before (15.9±16.1 vs. 11.2±18.6 days, p=0.127). The rate of obtaining consent for the LST plan tended to increase after the Act (139/183 [76.0%] vs. 27/44 [61.4%], p=0.077). Notably, none of the patients made an LST decision independently. Ventilator withdrawal was more frequently performed after the Act than before (52/183 [28.4%] vs. 0/44 [0%], p<0.001). Conversely, the rate of organ donation decreased after the Act was implemented (5/183 [2.7%] vs. 6/44 [13.6%], p=0.008). Refusal to undergo surgery was more common after the Act was implemented than before (87/149 [58.4%] vs. 15/41 [36.6%], p=0.021) among the 190 patients who required surgery.

CONCLUSION

After the Act on LST decisions was implemented, the rate of LST withdrawal increased in patients with acute cerebrovascular disease. However, the decision to withdraw LST was made by the patient's family rather than the patient themselves. After the execution of the Act, we also observed an increased rate of refusal to undergo surgery and a decreased rate of organ donation. The Act on LST decisions may reduce unnecessary treatments that prolong end-of-life processes without a curative effect. However, the widespread application of this law may also reduce beneficial treatments and contribute to a decline in organ donation.

Prognosis and enhancement of recovery in disorders of consciousness

Disorders of consciousness after severe brain injury encompass conditions of coma, vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, and minimally conscious state. DoC clinical presentation pose perplexing challenges to medical professionals, researchers, and families alike. The outcome is uncertain in the first weeks to months after a brain injury, with families and medical providers often making important decisions that require certainty. Prognostication for individuals with these conditions has been the subject of intense scientific investigation that continues to strive for valid prognostic indicators and algorithms for predicting recovery of consciousness. This manuscript aims to provide an overview of the current clinical landscape surrounding prognosis and optimizing recovery in DoC and the current and future research that could improve prognostic accuracy after severe brain injury. Improved understanding of these factors will aid healthcare professionals in providing optimal care, fostering hope, and advocating for ethical practices in the management of individuals with DoC.

Palliative Care in Severe Neurotrauma Patients in the Intensive Care Unit

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and many patients with TBI require intensive care unit (ICU) management. When facing a life-threatening illness, such as TBI, a palliative care approach that focuses on noncurative aspects of care should always be considered in the ICU. Research shows that neurosurgical patients in the ICU receive palliative care less frequently than the medical patients in the ICU, which is a missed opportunity for these patients. However, providing appropriate palliative care to neurotrauma patients in an ICU can be difficult, particularly for young adult patients. The patients' prognoses are often unclear, the likelihood of advance directives is small, and the bereaved families must act as decision-makers. This article highlights the different aspects of the palliative care approach as well as barriers and challenges that accompany the TBI patient population, with a particular focus on young adult patients with TBI and the role of their family members. The article concludes with recommendations for physicians for effective and adequate communication to successfully implement the palliative care approach into standard ICU care and to improve quality of care for patients with TBI and their families.

Ethical Considerations in Neuroprognostication Following Acute Brain Injury

Neuroprognostication following acute brain injury (ABI) is a complex process that involves integrating vast amounts of information to predict a patient's likely trajectory of neurologic recovery. In this setting, critically evaluating salient ethical questions is imperative, and the implications often inform high-stakes conversations about the continuation, limitation, or withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy. While neuroprognostication is central to these clinical "life-or-death" decisions, the ethical underpinnings of neuroprognostication itself have been underexplored for patients with ABI. In this article, we discuss the ethical challenges of individualized neuroprognostication including parsing and communicating its inherent uncertainty to surrogate decision-makers. We also explore the population-based ethical considerations that arise in the context of heterogenous prognostication practices. Finally, we examine the emergence of artificial intelligence-aided neuroprognostication, proposing an ethical framework relevant to both modern and longstanding prognostic tools.

Early Shared Decision-Making for Older Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury: Using Time-Limited Trials and Understanding Their Limitations

Older adults account for a disproportionate share of the morbidity and mortality after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Predicting functional and cognitive outcomes for individual older adults after TBI is challenging in the acute phase of injury. Given that neurologic recovery is possible and uncertain, life-sustaining therapy may be pursued initially, even if for some, there is a risk of survival to an undesired level of disability or dependence. Experts recommend early conversations about goals of care after TBI, but evidence-based guidelines for these discussions or for the optimal method for communicating prognosis are limited. The time-limited trial (TLT) model may be an effective strategy for managing prognostic uncertainty after TBI. TLTs can provide a framework for early management: specific treatments or procedures are used for a defined period of time while monitoring for an agreed-upon outcome. Outcome measures, including signs of worsening and improvement, are defined at the outset of the trial. In this Viewpoint article, we discuss the use of TLTs for older adults with TBI, their potential benefits, and current challenges to their application. Three main barriers limit the implementation of TLTs in these scenarios: inadequate models for prognostication; cognitive biases faced by clinicians and surrogate decision-makers, which may contribute to prognostic discordance; and ambiguity regarding appropriate endpoints for the TLT. Further study is needed to understand clinician behaviors and surrogate preferences for prognostic communication and how to optimally integrate TLTs into the care of older adults with TBI.

Do Neuroprognostic Studies Account for Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Bias in Their Methodology? The SPIN Protocol for a Systematic Review

Self-fulfilling prophecy bias occurs when a perceived prognosis leads to treatment decisions that inherently modify outcomes of a patient, and thus, overinflate the prediction performance of prognostic methods. The goal of this series of systematic reviews is to characterize the extent to which neuroprognostic studies account for the potential impact of self-fulfilling prophecy bias in their methodology by assessing their adequacy of disclosing factors relevant to this bias.

Methods

Studies evaluating the prediction performance of neuroprognostic tools in cardiac arrest, malignant ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage will be identified through PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase database searches. Two reviewers blinded to each other's assessment will perform screening and data extraction of included studies using Distiller SR and following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We will abstract data pertinent to the methodology of the studies relevant to self-fulfilling prophecy bias.

Results

We will conduct a descriptive analysis of the data. We will summarize the reporting of mortality according to timing and mode of death, rates of exposure to withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy, reasoning behind limitations of supportive care, systematic use of standardized neuroprognostication algorithms and whether the tool being investigated is part of such assessments, and blinding of treatment team to results of neuroprognostic test being evaluated.

CONCLUSIONS

We will identify if neuroprognostic studies have been transparent in their methodology to factors that affect the self-fulfilling prophecy bias. Our results will serve as the foundation for standardization of neuroprognostic study methodologies by refining the quality of the data derived from such studies.

Automated screening of potential organ donors using a temporal machine learning model

Organ donation is not meeting demand, and yet 30-60% of potential donors are potentially not identified. Current systems rely on manual identification and referral to an Organ Donation Organization (ODO). We hypothesized that developing an automated screening system based on machine learning could reduce the proportion of missed potentially eligible organ donors. Using routine clinical data and laboratory time-series, we retrospectively developed and tested a neural network model to automatically identify potential organ donors. We first trained a convolutive autoencoder that learned from the longitudinal changes of over 100 types of laboratory results. We then added a deep neural network classifier. This model was compared to a simpler logistic regression model. We observed an AUROC of 0.966 (CI 0.949-0.981) for the neural network and 0.940 (0.908-0.969) for the logistic regression model. At a prespecified cutoff, sensitivity and specificity were similar between both models at 84% and 93%. Accuracy of the neural network model was robust across donor subgroups and remained stable in a prospective simulation, while the logistic regression model performance declined when applied to rarer subgroups and in the prospective simulation. Our findings support using machine learning models to help with the identification of potential organ donors using routinely collected clinical and laboratory data.

Neuromonitoring in Critically Ill Patients

OBJECTIVES

Critically ill patients are at high risk of acute brain injury. Bedside multimodality neuromonitoring techniques can provide a direct assessment of physiologic interactions between systemic derangements and intracranial processes and offer the potential for early detection of neurologic deterioration before clinically manifest signs occur. Neuromonitoring provides measurable parameters of new or evolving brain injury that can be used as a target for investigating various therapeutic interventions, monitoring treatment responses, and testing clinical paradigms that could reduce secondary brain injury and improve clinical outcomes. Further investigations may also reveal neuromonitoring markers that can assist in neuroprognostication. We provide an up-to-date summary of clinical applications, risks, benefits, and challenges of various invasive and noninvasive neuromonitoring modalities.

DATA SOURCES

English articles were retrieved using pertinent search terms related to invasive and noninvasive neuromonitoring techniques in PubMed and CINAHL.

STUDY SELECTION

Original research, review articles, commentaries, and guidelines.

DATA EXTRACTION

Syntheses of data retrieved from relevant publications are summarized into a narrative review.

DATA SYNTHESIS

A cascade of cerebral and systemic pathophysiological processes can compound neuronal damage in critically ill patients. Numerous neuromonitoring modalities and their clinical applications have been investigated in critically ill patients that monitor a range of neurologic physiologic processes, including clinical neurologic assessments, electrophysiology tests, cerebral blood flow, substrate delivery, substrate utilization, and cellular metabolism. Most studies in neuromonitoring have focused on traumatic brain injury, with a paucity of data on other clinical types of acute brain injury. We provide a concise summary of the most commonly used invasive and noninvasive neuromonitoring techniques, their associated risks, their bedside clinical application, and the implications of common findings to guide evaluation and management of critically ill patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Neuromonitoring techniques provide an essential tool to facilitate early detection and treatment of acute brain injury in critical care. Awareness of the nuances of their use and clinical applications can empower the intensive care team with tools to potentially reduce the burden of neurologic morbidity in critically ill patients.

Quality Improvement in the Management of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Current State and Future Directions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage carries high mortality and morbidity. Quality improvement (QI) efforts in the management of this disease process are growing as the field of neurocritical care matures. This review provides updates in QI in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and discusses gaps and future directions.

RECENT FINDINGS

Literature published on the topic over the past 3 years were evaluated. An assessment of current QI practices pertaining to the acute care of SAH was conducted. These include processes surrounding acute pain management, inter-hospital coordination of care, complications during the initial hospital stay, role of palliative care, and quality metrics collection, reporting, and monitoring. SAH QI initiatives have shown promise by decreasing ICU and hospital lengths of stay, health care costs, and hospital complications. The review reveals substantial heterogeneity, variability, and limitations in SAH QI protocols, measures, and reporting. Uniformity in QI research, implementation, and monitoring will be crucial as disease-specific QI develops in neurological care.

Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapies in Children with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Neuroprognostication in severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) is challenging and occurs in critical care settings to determine withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WLST). However, formal pediatric sTBI neuroprognostication guidelines are lacking, brain death criteria vary, and dilemmas regarding WLST persist, which lead to institutional differences. We studied WLST practice and outcome in pediatric sTBI to provide insight into WLST-associated factors and survivor recovery trajectory ≥1 year post-sTBI. This retrospective, single center observational study included patients <18 years admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of Erasmus MC-Sophia (a tertiary university hospital) between 2012 and 2020 with sTBI defined as a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤8 and requiring intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. Clinical, neuroimaging, and electroencephalogram data were reviewed. Multi-disciplinary follow-up included the Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (PCPC) score, educational level, and commonly cited complaints. Seventy-eight children with sTBI were included (median age 10.5 years; interquartile range [IQR] 5.0-14.1; 56% male; 67% traffic-related accidents). Median ICP monitoring was 5 days (IQR 3-8), 19 (24%) underwent decompressive craniectomy. PICU mortality was 21% (16/78): clinical brain death (5/16), WLST due to poor neurological prognosis (WLST_neuro, 11/16). Significant differences (p < 0.001) between survivors and non-survivors: first GCS score, first pupillary reaction and first lactate, Injury Severity Score, pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and Rotterdam CT (computed tomography) score. WLST_neuro decision timing ranged from 0 to 31 days (median 2 days, IQR 0-5). WLST_neuro decision (n = 11) was based on neurologic examination (100%), brain imaging (100%) and refractory intracranial hypertension (5/11; 45%). WLST discussions were multi-disciplinary with 100% agreement. Immediate agreement between medical team and caregivers was 81%. The majority (42/62, 68%) of survivors were poor outcome (PCPC score 3 to 5) at PICU discharge, of which 12 (19%) in a vegetative state. One year post-injury, no patients were in a vegetative state and the median PCPC score had improved to 2 (IQR 2-3). No patients died after PICU discharge. Twenty percent of survivors could not attend school 2 years post-injury. Survivors requiring an adjusted educational level increased to 45% within this timeframe. Chronic complaints were headache, behavioral problems, and sleeping problems. In conclusion, two-thirds of sTBI PICU mortality was secondary to WLST_neuro and occurred early post-injury. Median survivor PCPC score improved from 4 to 2 with no vegetative patients 1 year post-sTBI. Our findings show the WLST decision process was multi-disciplinary and guided by specific clinical features at presentation, clinical course, and (serial) neurological diagnostic modalities, of which the testing combination was determined by case-to-case variation. This stresses the need for international guidelines to provide accurate neuroprognostication within an appropriate timeframe whereby overall survivor outcome data provides valuable context and guidance in the acute phase decision process.

Traumatic brain injury: progress and challenges in prevention, clinical care, and research

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has the highest incidence of all common neurological disorders, and poses a substantial public health burden. TBI is increasingly documented not only as an acute condition but also as a chronic disease with long-term consequences, including an increased risk of late-onset neurodegeneration. The first Lancet Neurology Commission on TBI, published in 2017, called for a concerted effort to tackle the global health problem posed by TBI. Since then, funding agencies have supported research both in high-income countries (HICs) and in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). In November 2020, the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO, passed resolution WHA73.10 for global actions on epilepsy and other neurological disorders, and WHO launched the Decade for Action on Road Safety plan in 2021. New knowledge has been generated by large observational studies, including those conducted under the umbrella of the International Traumatic Brain Injury Research (InTBIR) initiative, established as a collaboration of funding agencies in 2011. InTBIR has also provided a huge stimulus to collaborative research in TBI and has facilitated participation of global partners. The return on investment has been high, but many needs of patients with TBI remain unaddressed. This update to the 2017 Commission presents advances and discusses persisting and new challenges in prevention, clinical care, and research.

In LMICs, the occurrence of TBI is driven by road traffic incidents, often involving vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists and pedestrians. In HICs, most TBI is caused by falls, particularly in older people (aged ≥65 years), who often have comorbidities. Risk factors such as frailty and alcohol misuse provide opportunities for targeted prevention actions. Little evidence exists to inform treatment of older patients, who have been commonly excluded from past clinical trials—consequently, appropriate evidence is urgently required. Although increasing age is associated with worse outcomes from TBI, age should not dictate limitations in therapy. However, patients injured by low-energy falls (who are mostly older people) are about 50% less likely to receive critical care or emergency interventions, compared with those injured by high-energy mechanisms, such as road traffic incidents.

Mild TBI, defined as a Glasgow Coma sum score of 13–15, comprises most of the TBI cases (over 90%) presenting to hospital. Around 50% of adult patients with mild TBI presenting to hospital do not recover to pre-TBI levels of health by 6 months after their injury. Fewer than 10% of patients discharged after presenting to an emergency department for TBI in Europe currently receive follow-up. Structured follow-up after mild TBI should be considered good practice, and urgent research is needed to identify which patients with mild TBI are at risk for incomplete recovery.

The selection of patients for CT is an important triage decision in mild TBI since it allows early identification of lesions that can trigger hospital admission or life-saving surgery. Current decision making for deciding on CT is inefficient, with 90–95% of scanned patients showing no intracranial injury but being subjected to radiation risks. InTBIR studies have shown that measurement of blood-based biomarkers adds value to previously proposed clinical decision rules, holding the potential to improve efficiency while reducing radiation exposure. Increased concentrations of biomarkers in the blood of patients with a normal presentation CT scan suggest structural brain damage, which is seen on MR scanning in up to 30% of patients with mild TBI. Advanced MRI, including diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric analyses, can identify additional injuries not detectable by visual inspection of standard clinical MR images. Thus, the absence of CT abnormalities does not exclude structural damage—an observation relevant to litigation procedures, to management of mild TBI, and when CT scans are insufficient to explain the severity of the clinical condition.

Although blood-based protein biomarkers have been shown to have important roles in the evaluation of TBI, most available assays are for research use only. To date, there is only one vendor of such assays with regulatory clearance in Europe and the USA with an indication to rule out the need for CT imaging for patients with suspected TBI. Regulatory clearance is provided for a combination of biomarkers, although evidence is accumulating that a single biomarker can perform as well as a combination. Additional biomarkers and more clinical-use platforms are on the horizon, but cross-platform harmonisation of results is needed. Health-care efficiency would benefit from diversity in providers.

In the intensive care setting, automated analysis of blood pressure and intracranial pressure with calculation of derived parameters can help individualise management of TBI. Interest in the identification of subgroups of patients who might benefit more from some specific therapeutic approaches than others represents a welcome shift towards precision medicine. Comparative-effectiveness research to identify best practice has delivered on expectations for providing evidence in support of best practices, both in adult and paediatric patients with TBI.

Progress has also been made in improving outcome assessment after TBI. Key instruments have been translated into up to 20 languages and linguistically validated, and are now internationally available for clinical and research use. TBI affects multiple domains of functioning, and outcomes are affected by personal characteristics and life-course events, consistent with a multifactorial bio-psycho-socio-ecological model of TBI, as presented in the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) 2022 report. Multidimensional assessment is desirable and might be best based on measurement of global functional impairment. More work is required to develop and implement recommendations for multidimensional assessment. Prediction of outcome is relevant to patients and their families, and can facilitate the benchmarking of quality of care. InTBIR studies have identified new building blocks (eg, blood biomarkers and quantitative CT analysis) to refine existing prognostic models. Further improvement in prognostication could come from MRI, genetics, and the integration of dynamic changes in patient status after presentation.

Neurotrauma researchers traditionally seek translation of their research findings through publications, clinical guidelines, and industry collaborations. However, to effectively impact clinical care and outcome, interactions are also needed with research funders, regulators, and policy makers, and partnership with patient organisations. Such interactions are increasingly taking place, with exemplars including interactions with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Acquired Brain Injury in the UK, the production of the NASEM report in the USA, and interactions with the US Food and Drug Administration. More interactions should be encouraged, and future discussions with regulators should include debates around consent from patients with acute mental incapacity and data sharing. Data sharing is strongly advocated by funding agencies. From January 2023, the US National Institutes of Health will require upload of research data into public repositories, but the EU requires data controllers to safeguard data security and privacy regulation. The tension between open data-sharing and adherence to privacy regulation could be resolved by cross-dataset analyses on federated platforms, with the data remaining at their original safe location. Tools already exist for conventional statistical analyses on federated platforms, however federated machine learning requires further development. Support for further development of federated platforms, and neuroinformatics more generally, should be a priority.

This update to the 2017 Commission presents new insights and challenges across a range of topics around TBI: epidemiology and prevention (section 1 ); system of care (section 2 ); clinical management (section 3 ); characterisation of TBI (section 4 ); outcome assessment (section 5 ); prognosis (Section 6 ); and new directions for acquiring and implementing evidence (section 7 ). Table 1 summarises key messages from this Commission and proposes recommendations for the way forward to advance research and clinical management of TBI.

Brain herniation on computed tomography is a poor predictor of whether patients with a devastating brain injury can be confirmed dead using neurological criteria

Background

It is unclear if the presence of compartmental brain herniation on neuroimaging should be a prerequisite to the clinical confirmation of death using neurological criteria. The World Brain Death Project has posed this as a research question.

Methods

The final computed tomography of the head scans before death of 164 consecutive patients confirmed dead using neurological criteria and 41 patients with devastating brain injury who died following withdrawal of life sustaining treatment were assessed by a neuroradiologist to compare the incidence of herniation and other features of cerebral swelling.

Results

There was no difference in the incidence of herniation in patients confirmed dead using neurological criteria and those with devastating brain injury (79% vs 76%, OR 1.23 95%, CI 0.56-2.67). The sensitivity and specificity of brain herniation in patients confirmed dead using neurological criteria was 79% and 24%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive value was 81% and 23%, respectively. The most sensitive computed tomography of the head findings for death using neurological criteria were diffuse sulcal effacement (93%) and basal cistern effacement (91%) and the most specific finding was loss of grey-white differentiation (80%). The only features with a significantly different incidence between the death using neurological criteria group and the devastating brain injury group were loss of grey-white differentiation (46 vs 20%, OR 3.56, 95% CI 1.55-8.17) and presence of contralateral ventricular dilatation (24 vs 44%, OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.20-0.84).

Conclusions

Neuroimaging is essential in establishing the cause of death using neurological criteria. However, the presence of brain herniation or other signs of cerebral swelling are poor predictors of whether a patient will satisfy the clinical criteria for death using neurological criteria or not. The decision to test must remain a clinical one.

The Characteristics of Withdrawal or Withholding of Life-Sustaining Treatment in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Single Japanese Institutional Study

OBJECTIVES

There is little evidence on the factors influencing the decision to withdraw or continue life-sustaining treatment in the setting of severe traumatic brain injury in Japanese institutions. We investigated the factors associated with the withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) for severe traumatic brain injury at a single Japanese institution.

METHODS

A total of 161 patients with severe traumatic brain injury were retrospectively reviewed. Patient characteristics and injury types were compared between patients with and without the WLST.

RESULTS

Of the 161 patients, 87 (54%) died and 52 (32%) decided to undergo WLST. In 98% of the WLST cases, the decision was made within 24 h of admission. The mean duration between WLST and death was 2 days. The predicted probabilities for mortality and unfavorable outcomes were highest in patients with WLST within 24 h. Patients with WLST were older and had a higher frequency of falls on the ground, ischemic heart disease, and acute subdural hemorrhage than those without WLST.

CONCLUSIONS

The decisions of almost all WLST cases were made within 24 h of admission for severe traumatic brain injury in a Japanese institution because of Japanese patients' religious and cultural backgrounds.

Current Status and Outcomes of Critical Traumatic Brain Injury (GCS = 3-5) in a Developing Country: A Retrospective, Registry-Based Study

BACKGROUND

Patients sustaining critical TBI [initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤ 5] generally have poor outcomes. Little is known about the frequency, mortality rate, and functional outcomes of such patients in Iran.

METHODS

In this retrospective, registry-based cohort study, the demographic and clinicoradiological findings of TBI patients were queried from March 21, 2017, to March 21, 2020. We included TBI patients with initial GCS of 3-5. The functional outcome was assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Score-extended 6 (GOSE-6) months after the hospital discharge. Patients were classified as having unfavorable (GOSE-6 ≤ 4) and favorable (GOSE-6 > 4) outcomes. Gathered data were compared between groups. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to find factors affecting the outcome.

RESULTS

Four hundred ninety-seven patients (mean age = 37.59 ± 17.89) were enrolled, and 69.2% had unfavorable outcomes. Elderly patients (age ≥ 65 years) were highly overrepresented among the unfavorable group. 48.9% had bilateral fixed dilated pupils (BDFP), who mostly attained unfavorable outcomes. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 50.3%. The in-hospital mortality rate was appalling among elderly patients with BFDP and GCS 3( 90%) and GCS 4(100%). Age ≥ 65 years [odds ratio (OR) 3.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19-10.04], and BFDP (OR 4.48, 95% CI 2.60-7.73) increase the odds of unfavorable outcomes according to the regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

The survival rate and favorable outcomes of critical TBI patients are generally poor. However, we believe that the neurotrauma surgeons should discuss with patients' proxies and explain the clinical conditions and possible outcomes.

Twitter Journal Club Impact on Engagement Metrics of the Neurocritical Care Journal

BACKGROUND

Twitter journal clubs are a modern way of highlighting articles published in a scientific journal. The Neurocritical Care journal (NCC) initiated a bimonthly, Twitter-based, online journal club in 2015 to increase the outreach of its published articles. We hypothesize that articles included in the Neurocritical Care Society Twitter Journal Club (NCSTJC) had greater engagement than other articles published during the same time period. We also investigated the relationship between number of citations and Altmetric score to assess whether the enhanced online activity resulted in higher citations.

METHODS

We gathered data in August 2020 on engagement metrics (number of downloads, Altmetric score, relative citation ratio, and number of citations) of all articles published in NCC between 2015 and 2018. Articles were analyzed into two groups: one featured in NCSTJC and the rest that were not (non-NCSTJC1), and the other comprised those that were not in NCSTJC but published under a similar category of articles as NCSTJC (non-NCSTJC2). Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and summary measures were used to report the spread. The groups were compared by using the Wilcoxon rank sum test, given that the data were not normally distributed. Spearman's rank correlation was used to assess correlation between Altmetric score and citations for the articles in the NCSTJC and non-NCSTJC groups. For comparison, the top ten cited articles in NCC were analyzed for similar correlations.

RESULTS

Between 2015 and 2018, NCC published 529 articles, 24 of which were included in the Twitter journal club. A total of 406 articles were published in the same category as the category of articles selected for NCSTJC. The articles discussed as a part of NCSTJC had a statistically significant trend toward a higher number of downloads, Altmetric score, relative citation ratio, and number of citations than rest of the articles published in the journal during the same time period and the rest of the articles published in same categories. Three NCSTJC articles were among the ten most-cited articles published by NCC between 2015 and 2018. We did not find a correlation between Altmetric scores and number of citations in the NCSTJC or non-NCSTJC1 or non-NCSTJC2 group, but there was a strong correlation between these two variables in high performing articles when the top ten cited articles were analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

Scientific journals are evolving their social media strategies in attempt to increase the outreach of their articles to the medical community. Platforms such as Twitter journal clubs can enhance such engagement. The long-term influence of such strategies on the impact factor of a medical journal and traditional engagement metrics, such as citations, calls for further research.

Neuroprognostication: a conceptual framework

Neuroprognostication, or the prediction of recovery from disorders of consciousness caused by severe brain injury, is as critical as it is complex. With profound implications for mortality and quality of life, neuroprognostication draws upon an intricate set of biomedical, probabilistic, psychosocial and ethical factors. However, the clinical approach to neuroprognostication is often unsystematic, and consequently, variable among clinicians and prone to error. Here, we offer a stepwise conceptual framework for reasoning through neuroprognostic determinations - including an evaluation of neurological function, estimation of a recovery trajectory, definition of goals of care and consideration of patient values - culminating in a clinically actionable formula for weighing the risks and benefits of life-sustaining treatment. Although the complexity of neuroprognostication might never be fully reducible to arithmetic, this systematic approach provides structure and guidance to supplement clinical judgement and direct future investigation.