New Paper released in Jama Network Open
Published: 28 November 2024
Paper title: Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury and Microvascular Blood-Brain Barrier Pathology
Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury and Microvascular Blood-Brain Barrier Pathology
New Insights about Brain Swelling After Paediatric Traumatic Brain Injury
A study performed by Dr Josie Fullerton revealed differences in the brains of paediatric and adult patients that might explain the sometimes catastrophic outcomes seen in children following a traumatic brain injury.
In findings published in the journal JAMA Network Open, Fullerton et al. found the first pathological evidence that the distribution of damage to blood vessels after a severe brain injury appears to be age dependent. Specifically, in adult brains, vessels showing signs of damage post-trauma were often medium or larger-sized. In contrast, in paediatric patients, it was typically the smallest-sized vessels, or capillaries, that were damaged.
In addition to this unique vascular pathology, severe brain swelling was far more common among the paediatric cases examined, which Fullerton et al. suggest might be a result of the differences in blood vessel damage seen after trauma.
Traumatic brain injury represents the leading cause of death and permanent disability in young children and adolescents. There is an increased risk of catastrophic outcomes in younger patients following TBI compared to adults, including diffuse brain swelling and ‘second impact syndrome’. However, up until now, the cause of these devastating outcomes in paediatric patients was unclear.
The paper ‘Pediatric traumatic brain injury and microvascular blood-brain barrier pathology,’ is published in JAMA Network Open. The study was supported by the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity grant; the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the Department of Defense; and an NHS Research Scotland Senior Fellowship.
First published: 28 November 2024
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