Correlation between neutrophil lymphocyte count ratio and outcomes of severe traumatic head injury

Background: Raised peripheral neutrophil lymphocyte ratio is associated with poorer outcomes in conditions such as severe brain injury, ICH, cardiovascular conditions, cancer.Methods: Retrospective analysis of 96 severe Traumatic Brain injury data treated at our institute over a period of 1 year. The patients were followed up for a period of at least 1 month. The primary outcome of the study was 1 month GOS and the various variables which may be associated with the poor GOS at 1 month follow up. Model based analysis was done for NLCR <24 hrs at 48 hrs and GCS at the time of presentation and discriminative ability of the models were studied by the Area under the curve.Results: Univariate analysis were done of 96 patients of severe traumatic brain injury for various variables such as age, sex, mode of head injury, type of head injury, presenting GCS and NLCR at 24 hrs and 48 hrs to that of GOS at 1 month follow up. Initial GCS <7 (p=0.0138) with AUC=0.6689 and peak NLCR (<24 hr) of > 9.6 (AUC=0.931) with a p value of <0.001 with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 79.27% and peak NLCR (48 hrs) of >12.4 (AUC= 0.973) with a p value of <0.001 with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 89.02% were associated with unfavourable outcome.Conclusions: High NLCR and initial poor GCS are independent unfavourable prognostic factors in 1 month GOS following severe traumatic head injury.

Cerebral venous thrombosis with a catch

Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare entity typically occurring in patients in hypercoagulable states. They can also occur in cases of trauma. The symptoms are nonspecific. Case Description: A 28-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a head injury. During the necessary imaging, it was found that he had a depressed skull fracture and other signs of traumatic brain injury. Unbeknownst to the patient and the patient party, it was also revealed that the patient only had one kidney. Wound debridement and excision of the depressed fracture were performed. A postoperative MRI revealed that the patient had CVT. Conclusion: There should be a high index of suspicion for CVT in case of traumatic head injuries. The surgeon should plan management according to the patient’s comorbidities.

Assessing the effectiveness of the full outline of unresponsiveness scale and the Glasgow coma scale in patients of traumatic head injury

Background: The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) is the most commonly used scale while the full outline of unresponsiveness (FOUR) score is a new validated coma scale in the evaluation of the level of consciousness in head injury patients. The aim of the study was to compare and assess the effectiveness of the FOUR score and the GCS in patients of traumatic head injury.Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in the department of surgery, Gandhi medical college, Bhopal during a 2 year period in which 100 patients of traumatic head injury were evaluated. The FOUR score and GCS score of these patients were assessed on admission and outcome followed for 2 weeks.Results: The mean age group of 100 patients was 25-45 years with 79% male and 21% female patients. The FOUR scale was found to have a marginally higher sensitivity of 65.6% while the GCS had a sensitivity of 64.2%. The FOUR scale however had a higher specificity of 71.5% compared to 66.4% of GCS. The Youden index showed that FOUR scale (46%) has a better prediction for death than GCS (35%). FOUR had a higher accuracy of 75% than GCS with an accuracy of 65%.Conclusions: Both FOUR score and GCS are valuable scales in assessment of traumatic head injury. The FOUR scale however is more accurate than the GCS in predicting outcome of head injury patients.

Rapid resolution of a traumatic venous epidural hematoma in a 3-year-old child: illustrative case

BACKGROUND Posterior fossa epidural hematoma rarely occurs in children after traumatic head injury. There is ongoing discussion about appropriate treatment, yet the radiological features regarding the time to resorption of the hematoma or required follow-up imaging are rarely discussed. OBSERVATIONS The authors presented the case of a 3-year-old child who was under clinical observation and receiving analgetic and antiemetic treatment in whom near-complete hematoma resorption was shown by magnetic resonance imaging as soon as 60 hours after diagnosis. The child was neurologically stable at all times and showed no deficit after observational treatment. Hematoma resorption was much faster than expected. The authors discussed hematoma drainage via the sigmoid sinus. LESSONS Epidural hematomas in children can be treated conservatively and are resorbed in a timely manner.

Treatment of Persistent Post-Traumatic Headache with the Anti-CGRP Receptor Antibody Erenumab: A Case Report

Introduction: Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has only recently emerged as a potential target in posttraumatic headache. To our knowledge this is the first description of a patient with persistent posttraumatic headache following severe traumatic head injury who has been treated with the CGRP-receptor-monoclonal antibody erenumab.Case presentation: A 56-year-old man presented with a 30-year history of frequent migraine-like posttraumatic headaches following a high-voltage head injury that he treated with an excessive intake of peripheral analgesics. Although amitriptyline was reasonably effective, it had to be discontinued when the patient developed restless legs syndrome in the second year of treatment. Under therapy with erenumab he achieved a rapid and stable reduction in his symptoms down to only 2–3 headache days per month without adverse events.Conclusions: This case demonstrates that the inhibition of the CGRP-receptor with erenumab could be an effective treatment option in migraine-like post-traumatic headache even decades after the traumatic event.

Post-Traumatic Hydrocephalus - A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND Post-traumatic hydrocephalus (PTH) can occur as an outcome of moderate and severe traumatic head injury. It is one of the causes of delayed worsening of the early symptoms of head injury. A total of 18 cases of PTH diagnosed and treated at tertiary care hospitals from 2012 to 2015 were studied. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the clinicoradiological profile of patients diagnosed with posttraumatic hydrocephalus and determine the outcome of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting in cases of post-traumatic hydrocephalus. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery in a teaching medical college. The clinicoradiological profile of patients diagnosed with PTH was studied. These cases were treated conservatively as well as by surgery. The demography, cause of trauma, GCS score and response rates were studied. RESULTS Among the 18 reviewed patients, 61.1 % were males, fall and RTA constituted the major cause of trauma. Craniotomy was done in 50 % of the patients, 88.89 % of the patients recovered and the mortality rate was 11.11 %. CONCLUSIONS Post-traumatic hydrocephalus is a consequence of traumatic head injury and can occur with various neurological symptoms after the initial trauma. CT scan of the brain is considered the choice of investigation to early diagnose PTH and the patient outcome after VP shunting is good. KEY WORDS Hydrocephalus, Head Injury, Trauma

Atlantoaxial Rotary Subluxation in Marfan Syndrome

Atlantoaxial rotary subluxation (AARS) is a rare condition that may cause persistent torticollis if not treated appropriately. AARS is associated with ligamentous abnormalities, which may result from acquired or congenital disorders. We report the case of a paediatric patient with congenital Marfan syndrome and AARS due to a minor traumatic head injury. A 9-year-old boy with a known diagnosis of Marfan syndrome (and extensive family history) encountered a traumatic head injury that presented as torticollis with a typical “cock-robin” head and neck orientation. AARS was diagnosed through a head and neck CT scan. He underwent initial conservative treatment involving a muscle relaxant (diazepam) and Miami-J collar. This was followed up with manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) and further cervical traction, which resolved the subluxation without more invasive treatment. To the best of our knowledge, AARS associated with Marfan syndrome has been rarely reported in literature. It is postulated that the ligamentous laxity associated with Marfan syndrome would increase the patient’s predisposition to AARS and more importantly, the propensity to require more invasive treatment (internal fixation). However, our patient unexpectedly responded well to conservative management, namely MUA and cervical traction. This illustrates that despite the increased ligamentous laxity in Marfan syndrome, it is still advisable to conservatively manage AARS before deciding to perform invasive internal fixation.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue-2: 2021 Page: S15