Diagnosis and Prognosis of Acquired Brain Injury: Current Status and Recent Advances

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 2231

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
IRCCS-Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, Florence, Italy
Interests: brain injury; consciousness disorders; neurorehabilitation; stroke; neurophysiology; neuroimaging
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to continuous advances in intensive care technology and neurosurgical procedures, the number of survivors of acquired brain injury (ABI) has increased considerably. After an ABI, patients may remain in a prolonged disorder of consciousness that may persist or be followed by a confusional state. The latter is characterized by persistent dysfunction across multiple cognitive domains, behavioral dysregulation, symptom fluctuation, disorientation, and, hence, altered consciousness. After, the patients may remain with permanent cognitive impairments or experience full recovery of their cognitive functioning. Also, survivors of ABI often suffer from several neurological symptoms leading to lifelong disability even though some patients achieve full recovery. This diversity of outcomes has been attributed to lesion characteristics and patient-specific factors, but the mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity are not fully understood.

The aim of this special issue is to provide an overview of this lively field of research by collecting contributions covering various aspects related to this topic. Studies investigating the identification of phenotypes and endotypes related to better short and long-term outcomes and better response to treatments will be mainly considered. Multidimensional definition of outcome will be more appreciated and multicentre studies will be deemed with more emphasis.

Dr. Bahia Hakiki
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • brain injury
  • coma
  • disorders of consciousness
  • minimally consciousness state
  • vegetative state
  • diagnosis and prognosis
  • genetic biomarkers
  • instrumental markers (brain imaging, neurophysiology)
  • long-term disability
  • economic and ethical implications

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

10 pages, 732 KiB  
Article
Non-Functional Jaw Muscular Activity in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness Revealed by A Long-Lasting Polygraphy
by Martina Cacciatore, Francesca Giulia Magnani, Camilla Ippoliti, Filippo Barbadoro, Paola Anversa, Lara Portincaso, Elisa Visani, Jorge Navarro, Guya Devalle, Maurizio Lanfranchi, Valeria Pingue, Sara Marelli, Luigi Ferini Strambi, Francesca Lunardini, Simona Ferrante, Marco Tremolati, Matilde Leonardi, Davide Rossi Sebastiano and Davide Sattin
Diagnostics 2023, 13(6), 1053; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13061053 - 10 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1522
Abstract
The presence of involuntary, non-functional jaw muscle activity (NFJMA) has not yet been assessed in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), although the presence of bruxism and other forms of movement disorders involving facial muscles is probably more frequent than believed. In this [...] Read more.
The presence of involuntary, non-functional jaw muscle activity (NFJMA) has not yet been assessed in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), although the presence of bruxism and other forms of movement disorders involving facial muscles is probably more frequent than believed. In this work, we evaluated twenty-two prolonged or chronic DOC patients with a long-lasting polygraphic recording to verify NFJMA occurrence and assess its neurophysiological patterns in this group of patients. A total of 5 out of 22 patients showed the presence of significant NFJMA with electromyographic patterns similar to what can be observed in non-DOC patients with bruxism, thus suggesting a disinhibition of masticatory motor nuclei from the cortical control. On the other hand, in two DOC patients, electromyographic patterns advised for the presence of myorhythmia, thus suggesting a brainstem/diencephalic involvement. Functional, non-invasive tools such as long-lasting polygraphic recordings should be extended to a larger sample of patients, since they are increasingly important in revealing disorders potentially severe and impacting the quality of life of DOC patients. Full article
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