Advancement And New Understanding In Brain Injury

This book covers the latest developments in the understanding and treatment of traumatic brain injury. Various world experts authored the chapters that comprise a wealth of updated information on intracranial pressure; monitoring and diagnostic methods; neuroinflammatory responses in traumatic brain injury; cerebral palsy and Covid-19–related brain disorder; pathogenesis and prevention of fetal, neonatal, infant, and child brain injury; hyperbaric oxygenation treatment; the engineering and modeling of head injury; systematic review on early-tracheostomy; intracranial aneurysm in tuberous sclerosis complex; and the neurobehavioral and cognitive aspects of brain injury. With these complex topics, every clinician, scientist, and researcher will find this book invaluable in understanding the latest improvements and advances in the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches has been disappointingly slow. Translational Research in Traumatic Brain Injury attempts to integrate expertise from across specialties to address knowledge gaps in the field of TBI. Its chapters cover a wide scope of TBI research in five broad areas: Epidemiology Pathophysiology Diagnosis Current treatment strategies and sequelae Future therapies Specific topics discussed include the societal impact of TBI in both the civilian and military populations, neurobiology and molecular mechanisms of axonal and neuronal injury, biomarkers of traumatic brain injury and their relationship to pathology, neuroplasticity after TBI, neuroprotective and neurorestorative therapy, advanced neuroimaging of mild TBI, neurocognitive and psychiatric symptoms following mild TBI, sports-related TBI, epilepsy and PTSD following TBI, and more. The book integrates the perspectives of experts across disciplines to assist in the translation of new ideas to clinical practice and ultimately to improve the care of the brain injured patient.

Authoritative, practical clinical text giving clear management advice on diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of all fetal and neonatal brain injuries.

A distinction between primary and secondary brain damage of vari ous origin, particularly in acute lesions, such as head injury and ische mia is not entirely new. The concept is of practical significance, be cause it is the foremost intention of all clinical efforts to prevent, or at least attenuate the development of secondary sequelae. Primary dam age to nervous elements usually cannot be influenced by treatment. Its prevention is the objective of prophylactic measures. The current volume gathered prominent scientists and clinicians from various fields to pro vide a competent introduction and survey of the various aspects involved in secondary brain damage. It was attempted to provide criteria for the distinction between the primary and secondary phenomena on a morpho logical and functional level, on the basis of the kinetics involved and, most importantly, regarding the different specific manifestations, such as disturbances of microcirculation, aspects of the blood-brain barrier, and of cellular structure and function at a molecular level. Although it was not expected that a grand unifying hypothesis will be reached recon cilable with the many, occasionally opposing views on such a complex subject, nevertheless, the present volume attains an appropriate result. It can best be described as a mosaic of many different pieces which only as an ensemble reflect the current state of the art.

This timely book reports recent progress in research on traumatic brain injury (TBI) by leading investigators encompassing translational and clinical studies. The text covers epidemiology, pathophysiology, brain imaging, cognition, behavioral sequelae, and clinical trials of innovative treatments, including new approaches to rehabilitation. The range of TBI mechanisms represented in this cutting-edge book includes closed head trauma and blast-related injury, and the spectrum of TBI severity. Chapters offer a developmental perspective, including the effects of TBI on cognitive development in children and outcome studies in adults. Contributors from various countries provide a global perspective on this worldwide health problem. The editors have synthesized the contents in a concluding chapter. Researchers and clinicians will find this volume to be an informative, authoritative reference for current TBI research.

Information is provided from the basic and clinical sciences on the mechanisms damaging the brain from trauma or ischemia. New aspects involve the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial failure, pathobiology of axonal injury, molecular signals activating glial elements, or the emerging therapeutical role of neurotrophins. Experimental issues involve a better analysis of the ischemic penumbra, the salvagable tissue. Therapeutic contributions reach from the environmental influence to gene expression, including neuroprotection, such as hibernation – mother nature’s experiment – or hypothermia which is reported to induce cell swelling. Treatment issues deal also with thrombolysis and combination therapies, or with the clearance of adverse blood components – LDL/fibrinogen – by a novel procedure using heparin. Other highlights are discussing the specificities of pediatric vs. adult brain trauma, or the evolving role of the Apolipoprotein-E e4 gene in severe head injury. An update is also provided on an online assessment of the patient management during the pre- and early hospital phase in Southern Bavaria. The empirical observation of neuroworsening is analyzed in further details, whether this is a specificity autonomously driving the posttraumatic course. Finally, the unsolved question why drug trials in severe head injury have failed so far in view of the promising evidence from the laboratory is subjected to an expert analysis.

Top level clinical and laboratory scientists present their most recent clinical and experimental findings and concepts. The well balanced contributions illustrate the enormous significance of the dialogue between both laboratory and clinic, ultimately for the benefit of the patients, and contribute to a better understanding of secondary brain damage from trauma and ischemia as basis to develop more effective treatment including drugs.

With the contribution from more than one hundred CNS neurotrauma experts, this book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account on the latest developments in the area of neurotrauma including biomarker studies, experimental models, diagnostic methods, and neurotherapeutic intervention strategies in brain injury research. It discusses neurotrauma mechanisms, biomarker discovery, and neurocognitive and neurobehavioral deficits. Also included are medical interventions and recent neurotherapeutics used in the area of brain injury that have been translated to the area of rehabilitation research. In addition, a section is devoted to models of milder CNS injury, including sports injuries.