Neurocritical Care Society Podcast

At the end of Day 2 of our Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Casey Albin, MD gives a shout out to her highlights from today's packed program. 

Following their debate on approaches to early phase management of refractory status epilepticus (RSE), Salia Farrokh, PharmD is joined by Caroline Der Nigoghossian, Neurocritical Care PharmD, Renad Abu-Sawwa, PharmD, and Gabe Fontaine, PharmD to explore the benefits and harms/risks of early ketamine administration in refractory status epilepticus, as well as the emerging literature for the use of ketamine in pediatric neurocritical care.

Day 1 of our 2023 Annual Meeting has come to an end and members of our Podcasting Committee reflect on their highlights from Phoenix. With Nick Morris, MD, Kassi Kronfeld, MD, Stephan Mayer, MD, and Jon Rosenberg, MD.

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may be complicated by delayed cerebral ischemia, which is a major cause of unfavorable clinical outcome and death in SAH-patients. Delayed cerebral ischemia is presumably related to the development of vasospasm triggered by the presence of blood in the basal cisterns. To date, oral application of the calcium antagonist nimodipine is the only prophylactic treatment for vasospasm recognized under international guidelines.In retrospective trials lumbar drainage of cerebrospinal fluid has been shown to be a safe and feasible measure to remove the blood from the basal cisterns and decrease the incidence of delayed cerebral ischemia and vasospasm in the respective study populations. However, the efficacy of lumbar drainage had not been evaluated prospectively in a randomized controlled trial until Dr Stefan Wolf and his colleagues at Charité – Universitätsmedizin in Berlin conducted their study. Dr Wolf joins Dr Nick Morris to discuss the study's results. .

Multiple studies demonstrate that fever/elevated temperature is associated with poor outcomes in patients with vascular brain injury; however, there are no conclusive studies that demonstrate that fever prevention/controlled normothermia is associated with better outcomes. The primary objective of the INTREPID (Impact of Fever Prevention in Brain-Injured Patients) trial was to test the hypothesis that fever prevention is superior to standard temperature management in patients with acute vascular brain injury. Dr David Greer, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, joins Dr Nick Morris to discuss the results from the study, which have just been released.

Dr. Ali Seifi, a Professor of neurocritical care at the University of Texas in San Antonio, dives into the intricacies of blood pressure management in acute stroke. He discusses the critical difference between blood pressure variability and absolute numbers for patient outcomes. Strategies like the comparison of nicardipine and clevidipine reveal similar efficacies. Dr. Seifi emphasizes the need for further research on blood pressure fluctuations and their role in recovery, alongside the potential of AI in enhancing data management in healthcare.

Listen to the fourth episode of NCS's INSIGHTS series on Acute Ischemic Stroke (part 2 of 2) The INSIGHTS series is hosted by Casey Albin, MD and Salia Farrokh, PharmD, and covers different topics from Neurocritical Care ON CALL®, the only up-to-date, comprehensive resource to offer content exclusively dedicated to the practice of neurocritical care. Learn more about ON CALL®. This episode is sponsored by Biogen. Science that transforms patient lives. Science that seeks to solve societal problems. Science that acts with purpose. Science that is inspired by the diversity and passion of our people. Discover where science meets humanity at Biogen. The NCS Podcast is the official podcast of the Neurocritical Care Society.

Dr Jamil Dibu joins Dr Lauren Koffman to discuss building a neurocritical care unit in Abu Dhabi and developing a framework for determining death by neurologic criteria in the United Arab Emirates. 

Listen to the third episode of NCS' INSIGHTS series - Acute Ischemic Stroke (part 1 of 2). The INSIGHTS series is hosted by Casey Albin, MD and Salia Farrokh, PharmD, and covers different topics from Neurocritical Care ON CALL®, the only up-to-date, comprehensive resource to offer content exclusively dedicated to the practice of neurocritical care. Learn more about ON CALL®. This episode is sponsored by Biogen. Science that transforms patient lives. Science that seeks to solve societal problems. Science that acts with purpose. Science that is inspired by the diversity and passion of our people. Discover where science meets humanity at Biogen. The NCS Podcast is the official podcast of the Neurocritical Care Society.

Listen to the second episode of NCS's INSIGHTS series on Status Epilepticus (part 2 of 2) The INSIGHTS series is hosted by Casey Albin, MD and Salia Farrokh, PharmD, and covers different topics from Neurocritical Care ON CALL®, the only up-to-date, comprehensive resource to offer content exclusively dedicated to the practice of neurocritical care. Learn more about ON CALL®. This episode is sponsored by ceribell. Time is brain when it comes to seizures. Ceribell Point of Care EEG empowers the bedside team to detect or rule out seizure activity in minutes. To learn more, visit ceribell.com. The NCS Podcast is the official podcast of the Neurocritical Care Society.