Platelet dysfunction in patients with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage: Do desmopressin and platelet therapy help or harm?

BACKGROUND: Pre-injury anti-platelet use has been associated with increased risk of progression of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (TICH) and worse outcomes. VerifyNow® assays assess platelet inhibition due to aspirin/clopidogrel. This study assesses the outcomes of patients with TICH and platelet dysfunction treated with desmopressin and/or platelets. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with mild TICH at a level 1 trauma center 1/1/2013-6/1/2016. Patients with documented platelet dysfunction who received desmopressin and/or platelets were compared to those who were untreated. Primary outcomes were progression of TICH and neurologic outcomes at discharge. RESULTS: Of 565 patients with a mild TICH, 200 patients had evidence of platelet dysfunction (a positive VerifyNow® assay). Patients had similar baseline demographics, injury characteristics, and rate of TICH progression; but patients who received desmopressin and/or platelets had worse Glasgow Outcomes Score at discharge. CONCLUSION: Treatment of patients with mild TICH and platelet dysfunction with desmopressin and/or platelets did not affect TICH progression but correlated with worse neurologic status at discharge.

Delayed vertebral artery dissection after mild trauma in a motor vehicle collision.

Vertebral artery dissection can be insidious and is a leading cause of stroke in young patients, second only behind cardioembolic events [1]. We present the case of a 42-year-old patient who presented to the emergency department with diaphoresis and a complaint of neck pain one month after a low speed motor vehicle collision. The patient was transferred to a stroke center where cerebral angiography showed severe vertebral artery stenosis with likelihood of dissection after a noncontrast CT was negative for hemorrhage. She was definitively treated with antiplatelet therapy and discharged to rehab. By reviewing the most recent literature, we better define this illness. Most commonly, patients with arterial dissection present with head or neck pain, stroke, and Horner syndrome. It is now thought that vertebral artery dissection is a multifactorial disease process where certain intrinsic factors are present in the setting of an exacerbating extrinsic factor such as a low speed car accident, direct trauma, heavy lifting, or a rotational sports injury. And while our patient was treated with antiplatelet therapy and intravascular intervention, vertebral artery dissection is rare and further research is required to better guide treatment as there is no definitive data showing superiority of either anticoagulation or antiplatelet pharmaceutics.