3 research outputs found
Efficancy of Decompressive Craniectomy in Treatment of Severe Brain Injury at the Rijeka University Hospital Centre
Decompressive Craniectomy (DC) is a treatment option for severe brain injury (SBI). This method is applied when the
growth of intracranial pressure (ICP) can no longer be controlled with conservative methods. DC belongs to class III
Ā»GuidelinesĀ« ā Ā»optionĀ« which has not clear clinical certainty. They do not correspond to Ā»StandardsĀ« (class I) in treatment
protocol for SBI, which is common in most neurotraumatological centers. We have analyzed retrospectively 95 patients
with SBI who were admitted to the Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka. All patients were managed based on a protocol
of current Brain Trauma Foundations (BTF) Guidelines. 39 patients underwent DC while 34 patients underwent standard
craniotomy. 22 patients did not undergo any surgical procedures. In each patient we analyzed ICP changes within
the first 11 days and in that way we correlated them statistically with the initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and then
with Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), after the end of the treatment. We particularly analyzed the outcome with reference
to the time of the operation and the size of DC. The standard measurement of ICP shows statistical significance in recovery
in the group without DC after 5 days of intensive treatment, when the pressure is stabilized between 20ā25 mm Hg.
The stabilization of ICP in the DC group is observed already after 3 days of intensive treatment. Furthermore, better
functional recovery according to GOS, which is statistically significant, was observed in patients who underwent DC
where the area of craniectomy was larger than 25 cm2, within the first 24 hours from the time of injury. The use of DC
considerably reduces the need for CT check-ups. Increase in the number of encephalocele was noted, which is to be expected
considering that dural decompression is used in DC procedure. The results of our study indicate that the utilization
of DC is characterized with lower mortality and better functional recovery if it is applied at an early stage of treatment
and if the size of DC is satisfactory
Synthesis and characterization of self-assembled polyaniline nanotubes/silica nanocomposites
Self-assembled semiconducting, paramagnetic polyaniline nanotubes have been synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate in aqueous medium in the presence of colloidal silica particles of an average diameter ā¼12 nm, without added acid. The electrical conductivity of polyaniline nanotubes/silica nanocomposites is in the range (3.3-4.0) Ć 10-3 S cm-1. The presence of paramagnetic polaronic emeraldine salt form of polyaniline and phenazine units in nanocomposites was proved by FTIR, Raman, and EPR spectroscopies. The influence of the initial silica/aniline weight ratio on the morphology of polyaniline/silica nanocomposites was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopies. Nano-composites synthesized by using the initial weight ratio silica/aniline ā¤0.2 contain polyaniline nanotubes which have a typical outer diameter of 100-250 nm and an inner diameter of 10-80 nm, and nanorods with a diameter of 60-100 nm, accompanied with polyaniline/silica nanogranules, while the nanocomposite synthesized at weight ratio silica/aniline ā¼2 contains polyaniline/silica nanogranules with an average diameter of 35-70 nm. The evolution of molecular and supramolecular structure of polyaniline in the presence of colloidal silica is discussed