Current Status of Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in Korea : A Post Hoc Analysis of Korea Neurotrauma Databank Project with a Nationwide Survey.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the current status of intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) in Korea and the association between ICP monitoring and prognosis. In addition, a survey was administered to Korean neurosurgeons to investigate the perception of ICP monitoring in patients with sTBI. METHODS: This study used data from the second Korea Neurotrauma Databank. Among the enrolled patients with sTBI, the following available clinical data were analyzed in 912 patients : Glasgow coma scale score on admission, ICP monitoring, mortality, and extended Glasgow outcome scale score at 6 months. In addition, we administered a survey, entitled "current status and perception of ICP monitoring in Korean patients with sTBI" to 399 neurosurgeons who were interested in traumatic brain injury. RESULTS: Among the 912 patients, 79 patients (8.7%) underwent ICP monitoring. The mortality and favorable outcome were compared between the groups with and without ICP monitoring, and no statistically significant results were found. Regarding the survey, there were 61 respondents. Among them, 70.4% of neurosurgeons responded negatively to performing ICP monitoring after craniectomy/craniotomy, while 96.7% of neurosurgeons responded negatively to performing ICP monitoring when craniectomy/ craniotomy was not conducted. The reasons why ICP monitoring was not performed were investigated, and most respondents answered that there were no actual guidelines or experiences with post-operative ICP monitoring for craniectomy/craniotomy. However, in cases wherein craniectomy/craniotomy was not performed, most respondents answered that ICP monitoring was not helpful, as other signs were comparatively more important. CONCLUSION: The proportion of performing ICP monitoring in patients with sTBI was low in Korea. The outcome and mortality were compared between the patient groups with and without ICP monitoring, and no statistically significant differences were noted in prognosis between these groups. Further, the survey showed that ICP monitoring in patients with sTBI was somewhat negatively recognized in Korea.

Experimental Study on Microwave-Based Curing Process with Thermal Expansion Pressure of PTFE for Manufacturing Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites.

Conventional composite curing incur high production costs because of their long processing times. In contrast, microwave curing process (MCP) can reduce the production costs because both the mold and the composite parts can be heated directly. In this study, a mold consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), quartz glass, and stainless steel clamps was manufactured to cure composite specimens of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. Flame test was conducted prior to the MCP to confirm whether the spark occurred in the mold and the composite prepreg. Uniaxial tensile tests and three-point bending tests were then conducted to obtain the mechanical properties of the composite specimens according to the input power and the processing time. The mechanical properties of the composite specimens fabricated by MCP were compared with those of composite specimens manufactured by PCF. The results show that MCP can cure the composite prepreg more rapidly than PCF and can attain comparable mechanical properties.