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Biomedical subjects

J E Wilberger

Publications and source records attributed to J E Wilberger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Pathophysiology of evolution and recurrence of chronic subdural hematoma.

Although the pathophysiology of the development, propagation, and recurrence of current subdural hematoma remains debatable, fundamental management strategies may be formulated to optimize outcomes. Effective drainage by whatever surgical means, removal of offending membranes when appropriate, and maximization of postoperative physiologic parameters are based on the best available current pathophysiologic information.

Capillary Permeability↗
PubMed1998

Athletic spinal cord and spine injuries. Guidelines for initial management.

Unfortunately, spine and spinal cord injuries occur frequently in athletic competition. Most, however, are minor injuries requiring short-term medical treatment and vigilance. This article briefly reviews the athlete who suffers a spinal cord injury in competition while focusing on initial management.

Athletic Injuries↗
PubMed1998

Guidelines for return to contact or collision sport after a cervical spine injury.

Pro football is a violent, dangerous sport. To play it other than violently would be "imbecilic," according to the late Vince Lombardi. Many sports hold the potential for serious permanent spine and spinal cord injury. Fortunately, the incidence of catastrophic spine and spinal cord injuries has dramatically declined in the past 10 to 15 years. This decline is, in part, attributable to the development of sports-related spine injury registries, the education of the pathomechanics of these injuries, and the implementation of appropriate preventive measures. This article focuses on sports-related spinal cord and nerve injuries, ranging from the mild "stinger" syndrome to complete quadriplegia, with emphasis on recommendations for return to competition.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Methylprednisolone or tirilazad mesylate administration after acute spinal cord injury: 1-year follow up. Results of the third National Acute Spinal Cord Injury randomized controlled trial.

OBJECT: A randomized double-blind clinical trial was conducted to compare neurological and functional recovery and morbidity and mortality rates 1 year after acute spinal cord injury in patients who had received a standard 24-hour methylprednisolone regimen (24MP) with those in whom an identical MP regimen had been delivered for 48 hours (48MP) or those who had received a 48-hour tirilazad mesylate (48TM) regimen. METHODS: Patients for whom treatment was initiated within 3 hours of injury showed equal neurological and functional recovery in all three treatment groups. Patients for whom treatment was delayed more than 3 hours experienced diminished motor function recovery in the 24MP group, but those in the 48MP group showed greater 1-year motor recovery (recovery scores of 13.7 and 19, respectively, p=0.053). A greater percentage of patients improving three or more neurological grades was also observed in the 48MP group (p=0.073). In general, patients treated with 48TM recovered equally when compared with those who received 24MP treatments. A corresponding recovery in self care and sphincter control was seen but was not statistically significant. Mortality and morbidity rates at 1 year were similar in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: For patients in whom MP therapy is initiated within 3 hours of injury, 24-hour maintenance is appropriate. Patients starting therapy 3 to 8 hours after injury should be maintained on the regimen for 48 hours unless there are complicating medical factors.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Administration of methylprednisolone for 24 or 48 hours or tirilazad mesylate for 48 hours in the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. Results of the Third National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Randomized Controlled Trial. National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of methylprednisolone administered for 24 hours with methyprednisolone administered for 48 hours or tirilazad mesylate administered for 48 hours in patients with acute spinal cord injury. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Sixteen acute spinal cord injury centers in North America. PATIENTS: A total of 499 patients with acute spinal cord injury diagnosed in National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study (NASCIS) centers within 8 hours of injury. INTERVENTION: All patients received an intravenous bolus of methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg) before randomization. Patients in the 24-hour regimen group (n=166) received a methylprednisolone infusion of 5.4 mg/kg per hour for 24 hours, those in the 48-hour regimen group (n=167) received a methylprednisolone infusion of 5.4 mg/kg per hour for 48 hours, and those in the tirilazad group (n=166) received a 2.5 mg/kg bolus infusion of tirilazad mesylate every 6 hours for 48 hours. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Motor function change between initial presentation and at 6 weeks and 6 months after injury, and change in Functional Independence Measure (FIM) assessed at 6 weeks and 6 months. RESULTS: Compared with patients treated with methylprednisolone for 24 hours, those treated with methylprednisolone for 48 hours showed improved motor recovery at 6 weeks (P=.09) and 6 months (P=.07) after injury. The effect of the 48-hour methylprednisolone regimen was significant at 6 weeks (P=.04) and 6 months (P=.01) among patients whose therapy was initiated 3 to 8 hours after injury. Patients who received the 48-hour regimen and who started treatment at 3 to 8 hours were more likely to improve 1 full neurologic grade (P=.03) at 6 months, to show more improvement in 6-month FIM (P=.08), and to have more severe sepsis and severe pneumonia than patients in the 24-hour methylprednisolone group and the tirilazad group, but other complications and mortality (P=.97) were similar. Patients treated with tirilazad for 48 hours showed motor recovery rates equivalent to patients who received methylprednisolone for 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with acute spinal cord injury who receive methylprednisolone within 3 hours of injury should be maintained on the treatment regimen for 24 hours. When methylprednisolone is initiated 3 to 8 hours after injury, patients should be maintained on steroid therapy for 48 hours.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Defining the limits of survivorship after very severe head injury.

BACKGROUND: Reliable prediction of outcome after head injury is a daunting task. Although previous reports have highlighted the difficulties of determining outcome in the cohort of severe head injury Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score < or = 8), we wondered within the very severely injured population (GCS score 3-5) if a simple combination of clinical parameters may be predictive of poor outcome. METHODS: All patients admitted to a Level 1 trauma center with a GCS score of 3 to 5 from 1986 to 1991 inclusive (380 patients) were retrospectively reviewed and outcome a minimum of 6 months after injury was determined by chart review or telephone. RESULTS: Follow-up was accomplished in all but five patients (1.3%). Functional survival (nonvegetative) was correlated to admission GCS score, pupillary abnormalities, and age. As anticipated, overall functional survival was poor (12.5%), and even worse among those evidencing pupillary abnormalities (6.6%). Interestingly, there was an absence of survivors in the advanced age decades, with the oldest functional survivor of any GCS increasing in a stepwise fashion with increasing coma score. This translated into the oldest survivor of a GCS score of 3 being in their chronologic 30s, a score of 4 in their 40s, and a score of 5 in their 50s. Among patients older than these age decades, that is beyond this simple age/GCS cut-off (32.8% of cohort), there were no functional survivors (95% confidence interval 0, 2.4). CONCLUSIONS: Within the population of very severely head injured patients (GCS score 3-5), the simple combination of age and admission GCS score appears to predict accurately non-functional outcome in almost one third of patients. If confirmed at other centers, this may have wide-ranging implications regarding counseling of families, utilization of resources, and the design of head injury studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The learning curve for acoustic tumor surgery.

Although operative experience is considered to be critically important in the surgical management of acoustic tumors, little objective evidence substantiates this claim. The present study was undertaken to determine whether a learning curve exists for acoustic tumor surgery. The first 96 acoustic tumor patients managed surgically by a new neurotologic team were retrospectively reviewed. A significant improvement (P<.0003; F=6.32) in the ability to achieve good (grade II or better) postoperative facial nerve function was identified. Improving trends for complete resection rate and hearing preservation were documented, and the incidence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks declined; however, statistical significance was not achieved. For postoperative facial nerve function, approximately 60 cases were necessary before the new team achieved results similar to those of highly experienced surgeons. The frequencies of complete resection, CSF leaks, hearing preservation, stroke, and mortality were comparable to those of experienced neurotologic teams. The findings of this study may have implications for both patient care and physician training.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1995

High-dose barbiturates for intracranial pressure control.

Approximately 10% of severely head-injured patients will manifest elevated intracranial pressure uncontrollable by any currently known medical or surgical treatments, with a resulting mortality of > 90%. High-dose barbiturate therapy used in this setting has been shown to control intracranial pressure and reduce mortality in a small but definite number of patients. The pharmacologic, physiologic, and systemic effects of high-dose barbiturates must be fully appreciated, and appropriate clinical safeguards must be established when this therapy is implemented after severe head injury.

Barbiturates↗
PubMed1994

The effectiveness of surgery on the treatment of acute spinal cord injury and its relation to pharmacological treatment.

Using data from the Second National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study (NASCIS II), the authors sought to characterize the role of surgery in the management of traumatic spinal cord injury and to examine the interaction between pharmacological treatment and surgery. Patients who did not undergo surgery had more severe spinal cord injuries initially than those who had surgery. However, no differences in neurological improvement at 1-year follow-up were found between those who underwent surgery and those who did not. The results suggest that either early surgery (< or = 25 hours after injury) or late surgery (> 200 hours) may be associated with increased neurological recovery, particularly motor function, but these results are equivocal. Surgery was not shown to interact with pharmacological treatments, indicating that the effect of drug treatment in NASCIS II, reported elsewhere, is not influenced by surgery. Other independent variables that best predicted improvement in motor score were age of 25 years or younger, incomplete injury, and lower baseline emergency department neurological scores. This study does not provide clinically relevant evidence concerning the efficacy of timing or the value of surgery in treating patients with spinal cord injuries. A randomized study on the timing and efficacy of spinal cord surgery is needed to obtain valid comparisons of the efficacy of surgical treatments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Minor head injuries in American football. Prevention of long term sequelae.

The most common head injury in sports is the minor head injury or concussion-estimated to occur at a rate of 250,000 per year in contact sports. The risks of serious immediate consequences from a minor head injury can be obviated by careful attention to the athlete's post-traumatic complaints. No athlete who is still symptomatic from a head injury-regardless of how minor the injury originally appeared-should be allowed to compete until the symptoms resolve. If the complaints do not resolve rapidly, then more complete evaluation by a neurosurgeon or a neurologist is recommended. The potential long term consequences of minor head injuries in athletes remain to be elucidated. The available information appears to show definite, but probably reversible, neuropsychological impairment after a single minor head injury. However, much more data must be collected before any reasonable statement can be made about the potential cumulative effects of these injuries.

Brain Concussion↗