Lecture 6: Traumatic Brain Injury: Chapter 15 + part of chapter 16 epilepsy Flashcards
What is a traumatic brain injury? Give 3 aspects
- The most common type of acquired brain injury (ABI) among people under age 50
- The injury is caused by violence or a mechanical force that affects the skull from the outside
- Clinically very diverse outcomes
What is almost always a temporary disorder for those who suffer TBI? What does it indicate about the severity of the injury?
A temporary disorder of consciousness. The severity and duration provide an indication of the severity of the brain injury
Give 2 types of acquired brain injuries (ABI)
- TBI
- Stroke
What can you say about the epidemiology of TBI in age group 25 and younger?
TBI is the most common cause of brain damage in children and young adults
How can you explain the increase in TBI in elderly?
Due to ageing population and higher survival rates
Why do men sustain TBIs twice as frequently as women?
More risk behavior
What are the 2 main causes of TBI?
- Falls
- Transportation-related injuries
What are risk factors for TBI? (4)
- Age <24 and elderly
- Men
- Low SES, low education, unemployment
- Alcohol/substance use
What are 3 things associated with long-term mortality of TBI?
- Age
- Lack of independence
- Tube feeding
How does TBI influence the development of children under 7? And after 9?
7: development of TBI kid is similar to peers, but eventually flattens
9: development is closer to the level of functioning in peers without TBI
What is the link between TBI and later illnesses?
Increased risk of getting dementia or a psychiatric disorder
What are the 3 types of amnesia surrounding a TBI event?
- Retrograde: time prior to event
- Anterograde: no storage new info
- Post-traumatic: disturbed encoding and loss of memory at the time of the TBI event
Why are epidemiological numbers of TBI incidences probably much lower than the actual number?
Many patients with a mild TBI aren’t hospitalized and therefore not registered
What is the Boxer’s syndrome?
Syndrome in adults. The adults show a delayed effect of the injury, just like kids that get TBI before age 7
What are the 2 mechanisms that result in the pathophysiology of TBI?
- Immediate damage from biomechanical forces
- Secondary damage caused by complications
What is the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)? What is the EMV score?
Used to test spontaneous reaction of a patient to being addressed and can be used to map severity of impairments of consciousness
- Active opening eyes (E)
- Motor reaction (M)
- Verbal reaction (V)
What is the relation between post traumatic amnesia (PTA) and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)?
Duration of PTA correlates with GCS
What are 3 aspects of post traumatic amnesia (PTA)?
- Predictive of long-term cognitive status and neuroimaging findings
- Determines presence and severity of TBI
- Long PTA –> severe injury
What is another word for a mild TBI? How is it classified?
Concussion
No agreed classification. Controversy over definition and symptom duration
Which tool is most predictive of long-term cognitive status following a TBI?
Duration of post traumatic amnesia
When would you use CT or MRI for TBI?
CT: used in acute stages for their cost-effectiveness and availability
MRI: preferable in subacute/chronic stages for its predictive power
How is EEG used in TBI?
Used for damage assessment
How do the effects of TBI develop?
Over various timeframes from minutes to years. Recovery is often months
What are the 2 types of head injuries?
- Penetrating injuries (PHI)
- Closed injuries (CHI)
What is the most common cause of penetrating injuries?
Gunshot wounds
What is the difference in mortality between penetrating and closed head injuries?
PHI: 6,6 times more mortality than CHI
What are the 3 types of penetrating head injuries?
- Objects embedded in the head
- Entry and exit wounds
- Tagential injury: bone fragments often driven into the brain
What are 4 important aspects of neuropathology of penetrating head injuries?
- Penetration location
- Trajectory
- Fragment scattering
- Relation to behavioral outcome
What are 3 factors affecting the outcome of penetrating head injuries?
- Speed: fast –> more damage
- Wobble/straight
- Malleability/plasticity
What are 4 consequences of extensive blood loss?
- Hypotension: low blood pressure
- Hypovolemia: less blood circulating in the body
- Local/general cerebral oedema
- Intracranial haematomas
What is especially likely to be impaired regardless of injury location?
Short-term memory
What is the progression of recovery of TBI?
First year: rapid gains
After that slow gains, mainly due to learned accommodations
Give an example of cognitive impairments that can improve and one that persists
Improve: language disorders
Persist: visual blind spots
What are closed head injuries and what are common causes?
Non-penetrating injuries, such as falls, blunt head trauma etc.