Brain injuries discussed at symposium

By SANDY WOJCIK
Daily American Correspondent - Friday, October 14, 2006

Can a person who has received a severe brain injury recover to function as they did before?

It may sound like a rhetorical question, but after attending the Conemaugh Health System's Trauma Symposium 2006, held at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, in conjunction with the International Symposium held in Johnstown, there may be hope.

Conemaugh's Tom Causer, a trauma case manager/conference co-coordinator, said that just having an event such as the Symposium in Johnstown, was amazing.

”They usually hold conferences such as this in big cities. But, we really have a pearl here with Conemaugh Heath Systems, which was big enough to put this together.“

The three-day main event, which actually began with a dinner on Thursday night, features some of the top specialist in the world.

”Sixty of the world's leading research scientists, surgeons, professors and physicians in the fields of neurosurgery, neurobiology, neurotechnology and neurorehabiltation gathered locally for the International Symposium entitled, ”Finding a ‘Cure' for Brain Injury, Improving Outcomes.“

Causer said traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are increasing in adults especially by military personnel who have served in Iraq and Iran, and have been exposed to bomb blasts.

”They need more optimal care.“

He said it is so important to solve the problem because of the billions of dollars spent on people with TBIs.

”They are often young people who have years of productive time left,“ their injuries affect health care and insurance costs.

Tying the annual one-day Trauma Symposium in with the larger one held downtown, was a plus, said Causer. He said by doing this, the first responders attending the seminar at UPJ could benefit from the speakers attending the main seminar.

”The volunteers are great. We love those guys. We'll do whatever they need to provide the education they may need and try and make it as affordable as possible.“

Jamie Zipf, who put the UPJ held trauma program together and who co-coordinated the symposium, said more 10,000 letters were sent out to first responders and organizations in Pennsylvania the surrounding states.

She estimated that more than 250 people registered.

”We had hoped for more, but we really got more than we generally do.“

A number of specialists took to the stage at UPJ and one of them was Dr. Andrew Jagoda, M.D., a graduate of Georgetown University and George Washington with combined training in emergency medicine.

He is currently a professor and active physician at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine.

Jagoda talked about the important job those first on the scene of an accident have because the decisions that have to be made in the field can affect the patient and his or her outcome 100 percent.

Just as those who work in hospital emergency rooms, ”you have to develop a protocol. You and your EMS community.“ If you have guidelines and a protocol in place, ”you can improve the outcome in patients with head injuries.“

He stressed it was very important to keep up on the latest treatments, since many of the things that were taught in 1993 are now different.

”Since 1993 studies have been shown as to what worked back then is now different.“

According to studies, at least 1.4 million traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States each year. There are 57 million people living worldwide with TBI-related disability, which would equal the total population of Italy.

One very serious injury that affects young people, especially those who play sports, is a concussion.

Jagoda said that the University of Pittsburgh is studying if ”repeated head injuries cause long term damage.“

The doctor said many times, medical personal, say at a football game, are encouraged by the coaching staff to ”allow the player back into play.“ That's when you must know what to do, he said.

Another brain problem is a stroke, or brain attack.

Again Jagoda said decisions must be made on the spot.

As says on the specialist who helped spearhead the symposium Dr. George Zitnay, chairman of the Neurotrauma Committee for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and founder of Virginia NeuroCare Inc. said in a prepared statement, ”we've been able to reduce death rates, but have not been able to radically improve the quality of life of those who survive.“

One of the missions of the symposium is to develop a Johnstown White Paper that will identify research issues and priorities that will drive research over the next decade.

Zitnay became familiar with this area while visiting his son, Dr. Kevin Zitnay who is a neurosurgeon with Conemaugh Health System's John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute in Johnstown.

Offering political support to ”find a cure“ are Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ), who serves on the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force along with Congressman John P. Murtha and Congressman Todd Platts both from Pennsylvania.

”This symposium will be crucial in setting the tone for the future treatment of brain injury, which right now is a devastating life sentence for those living with it, especially children and teens,“ according to Zitnay.

The event will continue through Saturday and end at noon on Sunday.