Neurocritical Care Society Podcast

Discover the crucial differences between hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes and the complexities of acute hemorrhagic stroke management. Learn vital blood pressure control strategies and the timing for reversing anticoagulation in intracerebral hemorrhage cases. Explore the use of anticoagulant reversal agents and why individualized treatment protocols are necessary. Emphasizing collaboration with surgical teams and continuous education, the discussion highlights essential strategies to enhance patient outcomes in critical situations.

Dr Yasser Abulhasan, MBChB, FRCPC, FNCS, discusses how the Emirates Critical Care Conference has evolved over time and partnered with the Neurocritical Care Society to offer a neurocritical care track during the conference.

We've had a blast in Phoenix and Casey Albin brings our podcast proceedings to a close with her highlihghts from the third and final day of #NCS2023. See you next year in San Diego (October 14-18, 2024)!

Mohammed Hirzallah joins Nick Morris to discuss improving the utility of optic nerve sheath diameter as a non-invasive intracranial pressure measurement through standardization and automation.

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.