Objective The study investigates experimental brain trauma in rabbits, assessing levels of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and compares these biomarkers among trauma groups.
Methods Thirty rabbits were randomized to a control group (n=6) or to mild-, moderate-, and severe-trauma groups (n=8 each) created by dropping 200, 350, or 500 g weights, respectively, onto their skulls using a modified Marmarou impact acceleration model. CSF and venous blood samples were collected at 0, 12, and 24 hours after injury; UCH-1 L, GFAP, and IL-6 concentrations in CSF and serum were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and group differences were analyzed with a Friedman test followed by Dunn-Bonferroni correction.
Results Neither CSF nor serum concentration of GFAP, IL-6, or UCH-L1 differed from those of controls after mild trauma. Severe head trauma produced markedly higher GFAP and IL-6 concentrations in CSF compared with the control group (P<0.05), with both biomarkers peaking at 12 hours after injury. Serum UCH-L1 increased significantly in both moderate-trauma (peak at 12 hours) and severe-trauma groups (peak at 24 hours) compared with the control group (P<0.05), whereas no intergroup difference in CSF UCH-L1 levels was evident.
Conclusion Serum UCH-L1 differentiated moderate and severe trauma from controls in a rabbit model, whereas CSF GFAP and IL-6 levels reflected severe injury. Validation in larger preclinical and clinical studies is warranted.
Kyung Won Park, Sung Wook Song, Woo Jeong Kim, Jeong Ho Kang, Ji Hwan Bu, Sung Kgun Lee, Seo Young Ko, Soo Hoon Lee, Chang Bae Park, Jin Gu Lee, Jong Yeon Kang, Jaeyoon Ha, Jiwon Kim
Clin Exp Emerg Med 2025;12(4):358-368. Published online January 15, 2025
Objective Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often occurs alongside injuries to other body regions, worsening patient outcomes. This study evaluates the impact of concomitant injuries on clinical outcomes in patients with isolated versus non-isolated TBI.
Methods This retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) for 180,058 TBI patients admitted to 23 tertiary hospitals from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022. Patients were categorized into isolated TBI group (iTBI; n=127,673) and non-isolated TBI group (niTBI; n=52,385) based on injury diagnostic codes. Clinical outcomes—24-hour and 30-day mortality, hospital admission, and interhospital transfer—were compared. Multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted for potential confounders were performed.
Results The niTBI patients exhibited significantly higher 24-hour mortality (1.5% vs. 0.4%), 30-day mortality (2.6% vs. 1.0%), hospital admissions (24.5% vs. 8.4%), and interhospital transfers (3.6% vs. 1.1%) than iTBI patients (all P<0.001). Concomitant injuries increased the adjusted odds of 24-hour mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.456; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.286–1.648) and 30-day mortality (aOR, 1.111; 95% CI, 1.022–1.208). Thoracic injuries were the most significant predictor of adverse outcomes in niTBI patients, increasing the odds of 24-hour mortality by nearly sixfold (aOR, 5.958; 95% CI 5.057–7.019).
Conclusions Concomitant injuries significantly worsen clinical outcomes in TBI patients, with thoracic injuries being the most critical predictor of mortality. These findings highlight the importance of comprehensive trauma assessments and targeted prevention strategies to improve survival rates and optimize resource allocation for patients with multiple injuries.
Objective This study was conducted to evaluate the association between changes in repeated brain computed tomography (CT) findings and the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) determined by ocular ultrasonography in patients with moderate blunt traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Methods This cross-sectional study was performed on patients with moderate blunt TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale, 9–12) who were referred to the emergency department during a 1-year period. Initially, all patients underwent a brain CT scan and primary ocular ultrasonography. Patients who were candidates for a second brain CT scan under observation in the emergency department also underwent a second ocular ultrasound. The primary outcome was the progression of brain lesions on repeated brain CT scans. Logistic regression and the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used.
Results Overall, 204 patients with a mean age of 43±13.4 years were enrolled in the study. The study detected expanding changes in brain CT scans from 29 patients (14.2%). The progression of lesion on CT scan were significantly associated with changes in the Glasgow Coma Scale. In the second brain CT scan, there were significant associations between the progression of lesion on CT scan and the increased size of the ONSD measured on both axial and coronal sections (odds ratio, 17.3–47.5; AUC, 0.88–0.93).
Conclusion Among patients with moderate TBI, an increase in ONSD on ocular ultrasound seems to be an appropriate criterion for repeating a brain CT scan to select a suitable therapeutic intervention.
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Objective Hypoxic ischemia (HI) is a secondary insult that can cause fatal neurologic outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI), ranging from mild cognitive deficits to persistent vegetative states. We here aimed to unravel the underlying pathological mechanisms of HI injury in a TBI mouse model.
Methods Neurobehavior, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress were assessed in a mouse model of controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury followed by HI. Mice underwent CCI alone, CCI followed by HI, HI alone, or sham operation. HI was induced by one-vessel carotid ligation with 1 hour of 8% oxygen in nitrogen. Learning and memory were assessed using the novel object recognition test, contextual and cued fear conditioning, and Barnes maze test. Brain cytokine production and oxidative stress-related components were measured.
Results Compared to TBI-only animals, TBI followed by HI mice exhibited significantly poorer survival and health scores, spatial learning and memory in the Barnes maze test, discrimination memory in the novel object recognition test, and fear memory following contextual and cued fear conditioning. Malondialdehyde levels were significantly lower, whereas glutathione peroxidase activity was significantly higher in TBI followed by HI mice compared to TBI-only and sham counterparts, respectively. Interleukin-6 levels were significantly higher in TBI followed by HI mice compared to both TBI-only and sham animals.
Conclusion Post-traumatic HI aggravated deficits in spatial, fear, and discrimination memory in an experimental TBI mouse model. Our results suggest that increased neuroinflammation and oxidative stress contribute to HI-induced neurobehavioral impairments after TBI.
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The immunological landscape of traumatic brain injury: insights from pathophysiology to experimental models Matthew Abikenari, Joseph H. Ha, Justin Liu, Alexander Ren, Kwang Bog Cho, Jaejoon Lim, Lily H. Kim, Ravi Medikonda, John Choi, Michael Lim Frontiers in Neurology.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
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Objective Among the pediatric population with minor head trauma, it is difficult to determine an indication for the usage of brain computerized tomography (CT). Our study aims to compare the efficiency of the most commonly used clinical decision rules: the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) and Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Head Injury 2 (CATCH2).
Methods This retrospective study investigated whether the PECARN and CATCH2 rules were applicable to Korean children with minor head trauma for reducing the use of brain CT imaging, while detecting intracranial pathology.
Results Overall, 251 patients (0–5 years old) admitted to emergency rooms within 24 hours of injury were included between August 2015 to August 2018. The performance results are as follows: the PECARN and CATCH2 rules had a sensitivity of 80.00% (51.91%–95.67%) and 100% (78.20%–100.00%) with a specificity of 28.39% (22.73%–34.60%) and 15.25% (10.92%–20.49%), respectively; the negative predictive values were 98.58% and 100%, respectively. Overall, the CATCH2 rule was more successful than the PECARN rule in detecting intracranial pathology; however, there was no significant difference between them. Furthermore, the PECARN and CATCH2 rules lowered the rate of head CT imaging in our study group.
Conclusion Both the rules significantly lowered the rate of indicated brain CT. However, since the CATCH2 rule had higher sensitivity and negative predictive value than the PECARN rule, it is more appropriate to be used in emergency rooms for detecting intracranial pathology in children with minor head trauma.
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Objective To evaluate the predictive performance of optic nerve sheath thickness (ONST) on the outcomes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to compare the inter-observer agreement To evaluate the predictive performance of optic nerve sheath thickness (ONST) for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to compare the predictive performance and inter-observer agreement between ONST and optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) on facial computed tomography (CT).
Methods We retrospectively enrolled patients with a history of facial trauma and who underwent both facial CT and brain CT. Two reviewers independently measured ONST and ONSD of each patient using facial CT images. Final brain CT with clinical outcome was used as the reference standard for TBI. Multivariate logistic regression analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and intraclass correlation coefficients were used for statistical analyses.
Results Both ONST (P=0.002) and ONSD (P=0.001) on facial CT were significantly independent factors to distinguish between TBI and healthy brains; an increase in ONST and ONSD values corresponded with an increase in the risk of TBI by 8.9- and 7.6-fold, respectively. The predictive performances of the ONST (sensitivity, 96.2%; specificity, 94.3%; area under the ROC curve, 0.968) and ONSD (sensitivity, 92.6%; specificity, 90.2%; area under the ROC curve, 0.955) were excellent and exhibited similar sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (P=0.18–0.99). Interobserver and intraobserver intraclass correlation coefficients for ONST were significantly higher than those for ONSD (all P<0.001).
Conclusion ONST on facial CT is a feasible predictor of TBI and demonstrates similar performance and superior observer agreement than ONSD. We recommend using ONST measurements to assess the need for additional brain CT scans in TBI-suspected cases.
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