Abstract
The Rosalind Franklin Society (RFS), in partnership with Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, enthusiastically congratulate our distinguished recipient of the 2022 annual
Elena Cavazzoni and Thomas Boakye, “A 12-Year Audit of Neurological Outcomes Associated with Core Body Temperature >37.5°C in Children with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury,” Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, http://doi.org/10.1089/ther.2022.0026.
Abstract
Hyperthermia exposure is associated with poor neurological outcomes in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Our aim was to describe fever in children with severe TBI admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for at least 72 hours and to evaluate associations between fever using a novel approach to describe thermal exposure and neurobehavioral outcomes. The cohort included children from birth to 17 years of age admitted to the PICU who had severe TBI with intracranial pressure monitoring. Hyperthermia was defined as a core temperature >37.5°C. Hourly temperature measurements were used to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) using the linear trapezoidal rule. Each participant was followed up at the Brain Injury Clinic 6 and 18 months postinjury.
Hyperthermia/fever was common (89.7%), and patients remained hyperthermic for a median of 9.4 hours. However, no statistically significant association was found between AUC and abnormal neurological outcomes. The follow-up rates were good at 6 (86.7%) and 18 months (83.7%). The neurological deficit improved with time, with “favorable outcomes” increasing from 72% to 94% at the respective follow-up months.
Biosketch
Dr. Elena Cavazzoni started her training in pediatrics in the United Kingdom and completed her training in pediatric intensive care in Australia. She is a senior staff specialist in pediatric intensive care at the Children's Hospital at Westmead and has been the costate medical director for the New South Wales Organ and Tissue Donation Service since 2014.
She has significant interest in palliative care, organ donation, complex communication, and medical education. Her research interests are in organ and tissue donation, transfusion medicine, and neurocritical care. She is a senior clinical lecturer for the University of Sydney and has been involved in the development of the Paediatric BASIC course, Paediatric Neurocritical Care: Beyond BASIC course, Critical Conservation in PICU course, and helps facilitate the core Family Donation Conversation workshop.