HYPOXIC BRAIN INJURY

Hypoxic Brain Injury



Hypoxic Brain Injury

Brain Injury - Hypoxia Brain Epidemiology

Cerebral hypoxia is a type of brain injury and is caused by oxygen deprivation, brain. Drowning, strangulation, choking, unconsciousness, cardiac arrest, carbon monoxide poisoning and complications from general anesthesia can create conditions that can lead to cerebral hypoxia. Symptoms of mild cerebral hypoxia include inattentiveness, poor judgment, memory loss, and decreased motor coordination. Brain cells are extremely sensitive to oxygen deprivation and can begin to die within minutes after the oxygen supply is cut (Akerman, 2007, 382-389). When hypoxia lasts for longer periods of time can cause coma, seizures and even brain death. In brain death, the basic life functions like breathing, blood pressure, and cardiac function are preserved, but there is no consciousness or response to the world around them. No amount of compensation can repair a tragic injury, but a monetary recovery can help alleviate the enormous financial burden and disruption of a family that can cause brain damage.

Hypoxia and Brain Injury

Hypoxia represent the failure of an adequate amount of oxygen to gain access to, or to be utilized by, the body. When the lack of oxygen is extreme, the term anoxia is used. Oxygen deprivation may result from interference with inspiration of oxygen, passage of oxygen from the lungs into the blood, transport of oxygen to tissues, and use of oxygen by cells. Interference at any of these stages can produce damage that leads to further hypoxia. This is seen most dramatically when the brain is deprived of the necessary oxygen for more than a few minutes. Nerve cell degeneration begins quickly, and although the original cause of anoxia is removed, damage to the respiratory centers prevents resumption of breathing.

Oxygen may fail to enter the lungs in adequate amounts because of lowered concentrations in the atmosphere or because of obstructions in the airways. High altitudes, drowning, strangulation, aspiration of a foreign body, and lung disease are extrinsic causes of hypoxia. Inadequacy or failure of the respiratory mechanism may result from trauma, poisoning, progressive hypoxia, and other causes. The passage of oxygen from the lung alveoli to the adjacent blood capillaries may be prevented or decreased by such conditions as chronic lung disease, infections, presence of foreign materials, and developmental defects.

A great number of conditions may interfere with the blood transport of oxygen, most of which is accomplished by the red blood cells. Examples include various forms of anemia, heart disease, trauma, hemorrhage, and circulatory diseases. In brief, anything that decreases blood supply or oxygenation of the blood cells may produce hypoxia. The reduced O2 levels of the high-altitude environment immediately reduce oxygen levels in the blood, a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia triggers the peripheral chemoreceptors to stimulate the inspiratory center of the brainstem. Hyperpnea results, with increases in both the breathing rate and the tidal volume. The blood CO2 levels drop as more carbon dioxide is exhaled. The reduction in blood CO2 can lead to alkalosis, a condition where the blood pH is higher ...