Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are studying the effectiveness of current treatments for severe head injuries. Half a million Americans are hospitalized for head injuries each year, including many victims of assault and auto accidents. The research is addressing two long-standing questions. The first is whether the brain runs short of oxygen as blood flow to the injured region slows. The second is whether a common treatment called hyperventilation helps or harms patients.
Hyperventilation counteracts the build-up of pressure inside the skull that can prove fatal.
But it also may deprive the injured region of oxygen and nutrients, worsening the damage. PET measures how much oxygen a particular part of the brain is using. Patients will be accepted into the study within 12 hours of head injury. Other members of the head-injury care team include interventional neuroradiologists and specially trained respiratory, physical, occupational and speech therapists. In addition, they are placed in the PET scanner on admission, before and after hyperventilation and 24 hours later.