Non-neurologic Organ Dysfunction in Acute Brain Injury

The inflammatory response commonly becomes dysregulated in critically ill ICU patients. This response can result in secondary damage to organ systems and ultimately may lead to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. The brain previously was thought to be immunologically inactive. More recent evidence suggests, however, neuroinflammation may be an important mediator of secondary injury. Adults and children with traumatic brain injury and subarachnoid hemorrhage have elevated cerebrospinal fluid cytokine levels [1–3]. Importantly, systemic delivery of these cytokines has been shown [4–6]. These inflammatory mediators may contribute to the development of non-neurologic organ dysfunction in patients with acute brain injury. Organ dysfunction in patients with acute brain injury: incidence and association with outcome Two studies have used the modified maximum Multiple Organ Dysfunction (MOD) score to describe the incidence and association of organ dysfunction with outcome in patients with acute brain injury. This score is derived from the MOD score [7], which is a validated organ dysfunction scoring system in general systems intensive care and represents the total