In June 2000, Electrical Trauma Program has established a collaboration with St. Mary Medical Center, Hobart, IN , which will serve as a primary referral center for electrical injury victims in Indiana and Michigan in vertical integration with the University of Chicago ETP program. MR facilities are located within the emergency ward. 1 showing damaged deltoid muscle hidden beneath undamaged skin. Richard Reba, MD, Malcolm Cooper, MD, and Chin-Tu Chen, PhD, of the University's Franklin Memorial Research Institute, have implemented protocols for measuring tissue perfusion, muscle membrane integrity, and glucose metabolism. Soon to be routinely performed at the bedside, these techniques employ radiotracers to reflect physiological conditions including cellular metabolism, blood flow, and cell membrane integrity.
Nerve injuries are practically unavoidable following electrical shock.
Because of the complex composition of nerve tissue, the pattern of injury that often results from electrical shock is more complex than commonly used neurological tests allow to detect. To more accurately describe the electrical nerve injury we have adapted more sophisticated spectral analysis techniques. We have found that these studies are very helpful in making diagnosis and planning therapy. A nother aspect of the multidisciplinary clinical research program is the complete neuropsychologic, psychiatric, and social-emotional evaluation of the patients. Kathleen Kelley, MD, Neil Pliskin, PhD, Joseph Fink, PhD, and Gregory Meyer, PhD, from the Department of Psychiatry, have begun a longitudinal study of acute psychiatric ET patients.