Ultrasound-guided PDT is noninferior to bronchoscopy-guided PDT in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients.

Objective To assess the impact of intracranial pressure monitoring on the short-term outcomes of traumatic brain injury patients.Methods Retrospective observational study including 299 consecutive patients admitted due to traumatic brain injury from January 2011 through July 2012 at a Level 1 trauma center in São Paulo, Brazil. Patients were categorized in two groups according to the measurement of intracranial pressure (measured intracranial pressure and non-measured intracranial pressure groups). We applied a propensity-matched analysis to adjust for possible confounders (variables contained in the Crash Score prognostic algorithm).Results Global mortality at 14 days (16%) was equal to that observed in high-income countries in the CRASH Study and was better than expected based on the CRASH calculator score (20.6%), with a standardized mortality ratio of 0.77. A total of 28 patients received intracranial pressure monitoring (measured intracranial pressure group), of whom 26 were paired in a 1:1 fashion with patients from the non-measured intracranial pressure group. There was no improvement in the measured intracranial pressure group compared to the non-measured intracranial pressure group regarding hospital mortality, 14-day mortality, or combined hospital and chronic care facility mortality. Survival up to 14 days was also similar between groups.Conclusion Patients receiving intracranial pressure monitoring tend to have more severe traumatic brain injuries. However, after adjusting for multiple confounders using propensity scoring, no benefits in terms of survival were observed among intracranial pressure-monitored patients and those managed with a systematic clinical protocol.

OBJECTIVEThe present study was designed to answer several concerns disclosed by systematic reviews indicating no evidence to support the use of computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the diagnosis of brain death (BD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of CTA for the diagnosis of BD and to define the optimal tomographic criteria of intracranial circulatory arrest.METHODSA unicenter, prospective, observational case-control study was undertaken. Comatose patients (Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤ 5), even those presenting with the first signs of BD, were included. CTA scanning of arterial and venous vasculature and transcranial Doppler (TCD) were performed. A neurological determination of BD and consequently determination of case (BD group) or control (no-BD group) was conducted. All personnel involved with assessing patients were blinded to further tests results. Accuracy of BD diagnosis determined by using CTA was calculated based on the criteria of bilateral absence of visualization of the internal cerebral veins and the distal middle cerebral arteries, the 4-point score (4PS), and an exclusive criterion of absence of deep brain venous drainage as indicated by the absence of deep venous opacification on CTA, the venous score (VS), which considers only the internal cerebral veins bilaterally.RESULTSA total of 106 patients were enrolled in this study; 52 patients did not have BD, and none of these patients had circulatory arrest observed by CTA or TCD (100% specificity). Of the 54 patients with a clinical diagnosis of BD, 33 met the 4PS (61.1% sensitivity), whereas 47 met the VS (87% sensitivity). The accuracy of CTA was time related, with greater accuracy when scanning was performed less than 12 hours prior to the neurological assessment, reaching 95.5% sensitivity with the VS.CONCLUSIONSCTA can reliably support a diagnosis of BD. The criterion of the absence of deep venous opacification, which can be assessed by use of the VS criteria investigated in this study, can confirm the occurrence of cerebral circulatory arrest.Clinical trial registration no.: 12500913400000068 (clinicaltrials.gov)

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