As an astrocytic protein specific to the central nervous system, S100b is a potentially useful marker in outcome prediction after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Some studies have questioned the validity of S100b, citing the extracerebral origins of the protein as reducing the specificity of the marker. This study evaluated S100b as a prognostic biomarker in adult subjects with severe TBI (sTBI) by comparing outcomes with S100b temporal profiles generated from both cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 138 subjects) and serum (n = 80 subjects) samples across a 6-day time course. Long-bone fracture, Injury Severity Score (ISS), and isolated head injury status were variables used to assess extracerebral sources of S100b in serum. After TBI, CSF and serum S100b levels were increased over healthy controls across the first 6 days post-TBI (p ≤ 0.005 and p ≤ 0.031). Though CSF and serum levels were highly correlated during early time points post-TBI, this association diminished over time. Bivariate analysis showed that subjects who had temporal CSF profiles with higher S100b concentrations had higher acute mortality (p < 0.001) and worse Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS; p = 0.002) and Disability Rating Scale (DRS) scores (p = 0.039) 6 months post-injury. Possibly as a result of extracerebral sources of S100b in serum, as represented by high ISS scores (p = 0.032), temporal serum profiles were associated with acute mortality (p = 0.015). High CSF S100b levels were observed in women (p = 0.022) and older subjects (p = 0.004). Multivariate logistic regression confirmed CSF S100b profiles in predicting GOS and DRS and showed mean and peak serum S100b as acute mortality predictors after sTBI.

Acute CSF IBR scores show promise for identifying individuals at risk for PTD. Further research should assess acute CSF inflammatory biomarkers' relationships to chronic inflammation as a mechanism of PTD and should explore anti-inflammatory treatments for PTD, as well as prevention and screening protocols, and link inflammatory biomarkers to symptom tracking.

Over the last decade, biomarker research has identified potential biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and management of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Several cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum biomarkers have shown promise in predicting long-term outcome after severe TBI. Despite this increased focus on identifying biomarkers for outcome prognostication after a severe TBI, several challenges still exist in effectively modeling the significant heterogeneity observed in TBI-related pathology, as well as the biomarker-outcome relationships. Biomarker data collected over time are usually summarized into single-point estimates (e.g., average or peak biomarker levels), which are, in turn, used to examine the relationships between biomarker levels and outcomes. Further, many biomarker studies to date have focused on the prediction power of biomarkers without controlling for potential clinical and demographic confounders that have been previously shown to affect long-term outcome. In this article, we demonstrate the application of a practical approach to delineate and describe distinct subpopulations having similar longitudinal biomarker profiles and to model the relationships between these biomarker profiles and outcomes while taking into account potential confounding factors. As an example, we demonstrate a group-based modeling technique to identify temporal S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100b) profiles, measured from CSF over the first week post-injury, in a sample of adult subjects with TBI, and we use multivariate logistic regression to show that the prediction power of S100b biomarker profiles can be superior to the prediction power of single-point estimates.

Aim-To study the outcome over an eight year period of children determined by paediatricians in 1989 as definitely or probably sexually abused. Method-Information was obtained on 140 of 148 children diagnosed in 1989 when aged 7 or less. Sources were hospital medical records and school health records. School health records of a comparison group of 83 children were also examined. Results-A variety of problematic characteristics were found significantly more often in the abused group than the comparison group. These included surname changes (30% v 2%), removal from home (25% v 1%), number of home addresses (2.8 v 1.4), and schools attended (3.4 v 2.2). Other significant findings included further abuse (35% v 0%), adverse behaviours (60% v 16%), educational problems (24% v 5%), chronic health problems (54% v 36%), and involvement of mental health services (32% v 1%).

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Background:The venous stasis of soleal vein during surgery may be an important factor in the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The stimulation of calf muscle during surgery may help in preventing DVT. The present study is conducted to evaluate the role of peroperative calf muscle electrostimulation in prevention of DVT in patients undergoing surgeries around the hip joint.Materials and Methods:The study comprised 200 patients undergoing surgeries around the hip joint. The patients having risk factors (such as previous myocardial infarction, malignancies, paraplegia or lower limb monoplegia, previous history of DVT or varicose veins, etc.) for the development of DVT were excluded. They were randomized into two groups: 100 cases were given peroperative calf muscle electrostimulation for DVT prophylaxis (Group A) and the remaining 100 patients were taken as controls without any prophylaxis (Group B). The color Doppler ultrasound was performed to exclude pre-existing DVT and on 7th day postoperative to find out the incidence of DVT in both the groups.Results:Two patients among Group A and six patients among Group B demonstrated DVT on ultrasonography, but the difference was not found to be statistically significant (P=0.279). None of the patients had any clinical evidence of DVT.Conclusion:The role of peroperative calf muscle electrostimulation for DVT prophylaxis remains controversial. The risk of developing DVT in patients undergoing surgeries around the hip joint is very less in patients analysed in our series.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT• Agents inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor can lead to development of reversible posterior leucoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS).• Few cases of sunitinib‐induced RPLS have been reported previously.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS• A case of sunitinib‐induced RPLS in an elderly man is described in this study.• Elevated blood pressure at presentation occurs in most cases of sunitinib‐induced RPLS.AIMS Reversible posterior leucoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) has been reported following the use of anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents such as bevacizumab, sorafinib and sunitinib. In this report we present a case of RPLS that occurred in an elderly male on sunitinib therapy.METHODS Other case reports of sunitinib‐induced RPLS were reviewed and causality assessment was carried out using the World Health Organization‐Uppsala Monitoring Centre criteria and the Naranjo algorithm.RESULTS Only a few cases of sunitinib‐induced RPLS had been reported previously and elevated blood pressure at presentation was common in most of the patients. Our case was clinically similar to the earlier reports and the adverse reaction had a ‘probable’ relationship with sunitinib intake.CONCLUSIONS Physicians should monitor and manage elevated blood pressure in patients with sunitinib‐induced RPLS.