Age-dependent cerebral hemodynamic effects of traumatic brain injury in newborn and juvenile pigs.

Traumatic brain injury is one of the major causes of morbidity, mortality, and pediatric intensive care unit admissions of children. Although the effects of traumatic brain injury have been well described for adult animal models, few have investigated these effects in the newborn or have characterized such effects as a function of age using a single model of injury. Using a piglet model of brain injury, recent studies have shown that the cerebral hemodynamic effects and the corresponding mechanisms for such effects of injury vary as a functional of age. This review discusses the types of traumatic brain injury, their models, and the role of species in such model choice. This review also describes the effects of brain injury on cerebral blood flow, metabolism, and cerebrovascular regulation as a function of age. Finally, this review presents evidence for potential mechanisms that may contribute to age-dependent impaired cerebral hemodynamics following brain injury.