Long-term outcome in traumatic brain injury patients with midline shift: a secondary analysis of the Phase 3 COBRIT clinical trial

Abstract

OBJECTIVEFollowing traumatic brain injury (TBI), midline shift of the brain at the level of the septum pellucidum is often caused by unilateral space-occupying lesions and is associated with increased intracranial pressure and worsened morbidity and mortality. While outcome has been studied in this population, the recovery trajectory has not been reported in a large cohort of patients with TBI. The authors sought to utilize the Citicoline Brain Injury Treatment (COBRIT) trial to analyze patient recovery over time depending on degree of midline shift at presentation.METHODSPatient data from the COBRIT trial were stratified into 4 groups of midline shift, and outcome measures were analyzed at 30, 90, and 180 days postinjury. A recovery trajectory analysis was performed identifying patients with outcome measures at all 3 time points to analyze the degree of recovery based on midline shift at presentation.RESULTSThere were 892, 1169, and 895 patients with adequate outcome data at 30, 90, and 180 days, respectively. Rates of favorable outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale–Extended [GOS-E] scores 4–8) at 6 months postinjury were 87% for patients with no midline shift, 79% for patients with 1–5 mm of shift, 64% for patients with 6–10 mm of shift, and 47% for patients with > 10 mm of shift. The mean improvement from unfavorable outcome (GOS-E scores 2 and 3) to favorable outcome (GOS-E scores 4–8) from 1 month to 6 months in all groups was 20% (range 4%–29%). The mean GOS-E score for patients in the 6- to 10-mm group crossed from unfavorable outcome (GOS-E scores 2 and 3) into favorable outcome (GOS-E scores 4–8) at 90 days, and the mean GOS-E of patients in the > 10-mm group nearly reached the threshold of favorable outcome by 180 days postinjury.CONCLUSIONSIn this secondary analysis of the Phase 3 COBRIT trial, TBI patients with less than 10 mm of midline shift on admission head CT had significantly improved functional outcomes through 180 days after injury compared with those with greater than 10 mm of midline shift. Of note, nearly 50% of patients with > 10 mm of midline shift achieved a favorable outcome (GOS-E score 4–8) by 6 months postinjury.