PURPOSE OF REVIEW To provide an overview of infectious intracranial complications secondary to invasive procedures or trauma in the neuro-ICU patient population. Nosocomial infections of the central nervous system are a serious complication contributing to morbidity, prolonged length of stay in the ICU and/or hospital, and mortality of neurocritical care patients. RECENT FINDINGS Any type of ...

BACKGROUND Non-convulsive seizures have been reported to be common in neurocritical care patients. Many jurisdictions do not have sufficient resources to enable routine continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) and instead use primarily intermittent EEG, for which the diagnostic yield remains uncertain. Determining risk factors for epileptiform activity and seizures could help identify patients ...

Currently, the major issue in glycemic control in neurocritical care patients is that tight glycemic control (target range of 80 to 110 mg/dL) using intensive insulin therapy is associated with higher rates of hypoglycemia without an improvement in survival rate. The review by Kramer and colleagues in this issue of Critical Care confirms these data but provides solid evidence about the relation...

Cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism are frequently impaired in a wide range of neurological diseases, including traumatic brain injury and stroke, with several pathophysiological mechanisms of injury. The resultant uncoupling of cerebral blood flow and metabolism can trigger secondary brain lesions, particularly in early phases, consequently worsening the patient's outcome. Cerebral blood flow...

Radial artery insertion is a common procedure in intensive care units. We describe a case of a critically-ill 73-year-old man in the neurocritical care unit with a subarachnoid hemorrhage whose radial arterial catheter tip was transected from the main line and was successfully managed with bedside retrieval of the catheter.

The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic yield of continuous video electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring in critically ill neonates in the setting of a novel, university-based Neonatal Neurocritical Care Service. Patient demographic characteristics, indication for seizure monitoring, and presence of electrographic seizures were obtained by chart review. Among 595 patients ...