Outcome and prognosis of hypoxic brain damage patients undergoing neurological early rehabilitation

Abstract

BackgroundThe prevalence of patients suffering from hypoxic brain damage is increasing. Long-term outcome data and prognostic factors for either poor or good outcome are lacking.MethodsThis retrospective study included 93 patients with hypoxic brain damage undergoing neurological early rehabilitation [length of stay: 108.5 (81.9) days]. Clinical data, validated outcome scales (e.g. Barthel Index—BI, Early Rehabilitation Index—ERI, Glasgow Coma Scale—GCS, Coma Remission Scale—CRS), neuroimaging data, electroencephalography (EEG) and evoked potentials were analyzed.Results75.3% had a poor outcome (defined as BI <50). 38 (40.9%) patients were discharged to a nursing care facility, 21 (22.6%) to subsequent rehabilitation, 17 (18.3%) returned home, 9 (9.7%) needed further acute-care hospital treatment and 8 (8.6%) died. Barthel Index on admission as well as coma length were strong predictors of outcome from hypoxic brain damage. In addition, duration of vegetative instability, prolongation of wave III in visual evoked potentials (flash VEP), theta and delta rhythm in EEG, ERI, GCS and CRS on admission were related to poor outcome. All patients with bilateral hypodensities of the basal ganglia belonged to the poor outcome group. Age had no independent influence on functional status at discharge.ConclusionsAs with other studies on neurological rehabilitation, functional status on admission turned out to be a strong predictor of outcome from hypoxic brain damage.

Long‐Term Functional and Psychosocial Outcomes After Hypoxic‐Ischemic Brain Injury: A Case‐Controlled Comparison to Traumatic Brain Injury

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Altered amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation in basal ganglia correlates to pulmonary ventilation function in COPD patients: A resting‐state fMRI study

“…In our study, the COPD patients did not demonstrate a significant different GM or WM volume when compared to normal controls. In our opinion, severe hypoxemia will finally lead to brain atrophy as reflected by the chronic phase of hypoxic‐ischemic brain injury (Heinz & Rollnik, ; Weiss, Galanaud, Carpentier, Naccache, & Puybasset, ), while brain atrophy may not be prevalent in the stable COPD patients. Meanwhile, a rigid multiple comparison correction method adopted in our statistical tests may also account for the negative result (Eklund, Nichols, & Knutsson, ).…”

Effectiveness of direct and non‐direct auditory stimulation on coma arousal after traumatic brain injury

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