Neurological Complication

The primary goal of neurocritical care is to prevent secondary brain injury, which worsens neurological outcomes. Because clinical monitoring is often insufficient due to the patient's condition and medical treatments, multimodal monitoring using biophysical, electrophysiological, and imaging data is essential. In patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), the most frequent and severe complication is delayed cerebral ischemia, often linked to arterial vasospasm and potentially leading to infarction. Early diagnosis combines transcranial Doppler (TCD), sensitive to vasospasm, with perfusion CT (CTP), which measures cerebral perfusion; this approach guides therapy and improves prognosis. Ultrasound, especially when enhanced with contrast agents (CEUS), allows non-invasive, bedside, repeated visualization of cerebral blood flow and perfusion-even through the skull. Agents like SonoVue® help quantify perfusion using time-intensity curves. The study aims to assess whether cerebral perfusion measurements from the SYLVER device are equivalent to those from CTP in ICU or CCU patients.

Because of the important role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of SAH, it was hypothesized that its pharmacological manipulation might improve the prognosis of patients. In recent years, the effects of several groups of anti-inflammatory drugs on the development of complications after SAH have been described. Initially promising, glucocorticoids, thought to reduce cerebrovascular inflammation, brain swelling, and headache, failed in clinical trials. Studies have not provided clear evidence of the beneficial effects of these drugs in patients after SAH. Therefore, the administration of glucocorticoids is not currently part of the recommended practice. In addition, glucocorticoid treatment is associated with adverse effects that worsen outcomes, including hyperglycemia, infection, and the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Non-invasive neuromonitoring tools such as transcranial doppler, optic nerve envelope diameter measurement and quantitative pupillometry are routinely used in acute brain injured patients as part of multimodal neuromonitoring with the aim, among others, of detecting episodes of intracranial hypertension, each method allowing the study of one of the different pathophysiological mechanisms of its impact. However, at present there is no data in the literature on the value of these non-invasive neuromonitoring tools in the management of patients undergoing controlled intracranial surgery. The study aims to help the early detection of postoperative neurological deterioration.