Frederick Colin Wilson

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust | BHSCT · Regional Acquired Brain Injury Unit

Background: Acoustic Neuroma (AN) is a benign tumour of the eighth cranial nerve. Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) is a common treatment approach. Studies have explored the primary effects of SRS and documented equivalent efficacy for tumour control compared to neurosurgery. Objective: Examine the longer term cognitive and psychosocial outcomes o...

Objectives To investigate the external and ecological validity of a standardized test of children’s executive functioning (EF), the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (BADS-C). Background There are few standardized measures for assessing executive functions in children, and the evidence for the validity of most measure...

Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (SAH) is a type of stroke which is suggested to result in Executive Functioning (EF) deficits. Within the SAH research, EF is typically assessed as a unitary cognitive construct. Therefore, the nature and extent to which the different components of EF are impacted post SAH remain unclear. In this meta-analysis, 10 studies m...

Background: Hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIBI) occurs as a result of complete or partial disruption of cerebral oxygen supply. The physical and cognitive sequelae of adults following hypoxia varies widely. Objective: To systematically review studies exploring the neuropsychological outcomes following hypoxic brain insult in adults. Methods:...

Background: There is a limited evidence base to inform patient management following lightning-induced injuries. Case report: A 36-year-old right-handed Caucasian male struck by lightning while outdoors suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with a recorded 50-min interval before the restoration of spontaneous circulation. Multiple life threaten...

Analysis of Wessex Head Injury Matrix (WHIM) records of patients with traumatic vs non-traumatic aetiologies collected across three rehabilitation centres.

Background: Royal College of Physicians guidelines on PDOC recommended repeated assessments of patients in PDOC are undertaken by skilled clinicians. The Wessex Head Injury Matrix (WHIM) and the Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART) are the most commonly used measures within UK. Objective: To evaluate the use of WHIM and...

This pilot experimental study involved twenty children with ADHD who were assessed using TEA-Ch and then divided into two groups. 10 children were treated with Metylphenidate (MPH) and 10 were assigned to a control group. The groups were matched in terms of age, gender and estimated IQ. All children were re-examined at one year follow-up. Only thos...

Aims: This study sought to address two questions: 1) what is the inter-rater reliability of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) when completed by patients, their significant others, and clinicians; and 2) does the factor structure of the DEX vary for these three groups? Methods: We obtained DEX ratings for 113 patients with an acquired brain injur...

Impaired self-awareness (ISA) is common following acquired brain injury (ABI) and is related to functional outcome variables. This study examines two questionnaires currently used in clinical and research settings, which measure ISA by comparing patient reports with those of clinicians and significant others. This study also attempts to identify se...

Objective: To review the nutritional requirements of all new inpatient brain injury admissions presenting with Paroxysmal Sympathetic Hyperactivity (PSH) in the rehabilitation setting. Methods: RABIU is a 25-bed Regional facility in Northern Ireland which opened in 2006. All records of patients with a single episode non-progressive acquired brai...

To investigate current knowledge and application in practice of CIMT by therapists within the United Kingdom. An on-line 19 item survey. Neurological rehabilitation PARTICIPANTS: Occupational therapists and physiotherapists currently working or within 3 months of working with the adult acquired brain injury population were recruited from two specia...

Background: There is limited evidence to support pharmacological interventions for post-brain injury agitation and aggression. Case report: The case of Patient A, a man with severe agitation and aggression post-brain injury, highlights the successful use of sodium valproate, in the maintenance of community living, which had been threatened by th...

Relationships between executive functioning (EF), attention and behavioural inhibition in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or acquired brain injury (ABI) were explored using the Behavioural Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS), a test battery originally developed for use with adults. Children with ADHD-Combined (A...

Purpose: This study explores the experiences and sense of burden of family carers of survivors of malignant middle cerebral artery infarctions who had undergone decompressive hemicraniectomy. To date, there have been no studies examining carer outcomes among this unique population. This study, taken alongside an already published study of survivor...

Purpose: To analyse physiotherapy interventions and evaluate their effectiveness in the prevention and management of contracture with patients admitted in either vegetative or minimally conscious state in a UK Inpatient Regional Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service. Method: Retrospective audit of dependency levels and physiotherapy inter...

Purpose: To compare long-term cognitive outcomes of patients treated with surgical clipping or endovascular coiling after subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Method: Retrospective matched cohort study assessed neuropsychological functioning at least 12 months after aneurysmal SAH treatment. Fourteen patients treated by endovascular coiling and nine...

Decompressive hemicraniectomy has been used increasingly in recent years to treat malignant middle cerebral artery territory infarction. This review examines functional outcome data, with the novel analysis of outcomes according to temporal periods post-surgery. Case series data were pooled to determine significant correlates of outcome. Severe dis...

Purpose: This study examines long-term neuropsychological and psychosocial outcomes of survivors of malignant middle cerebral artery infarction treated via decompressive hemicraniectomy. Method: A case series design facilitated a detailed analysis of the outcomes among five participants. Neuropsychological domains assessed included premorbid and...

The article by Newcombe et al (see page 552) provides fresh insights with regard to the nature and extent of neuropathology associated with vegetative state (VS) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).1 Of note, quantitative DTI detected abnormalities in the patients examined that were not observed using conventional MRI reviewed by experienced neuro...

To analyse the functional outcomes of adults following acquired brain injury attending an intensive outpatient neuro-rehabilitation programme relative to a comprehensive TBI day programme service in the United States. Retrospective audit of all admissions over a two-year period (2001-2003) to an outpatient neuro-rehabilitation service utilising an...

This study explored the factors associated with the degree of support offered to people with severe mental illness living in community-supported accommodation in one area of Northern Ireland. Ninety patients were assessed using psychiatric rating scales and measures of social functioning and problem behaviour. The degree of support provided was cla...

Consensus guidelines defining minimally conscious state (MCS) have been available for some years. However, to date, few measures have been developed that are particularly suited to monitoring MCS patients and there are limited clinical outcome data. The objective of the study was to determine the value of serial repeated assessments using the Wesse...

Members of a regional inter-disciplinary neuro-rehabilitation service took part in simulation exercises aimed at providing insights into the lived experience of those with a neurodisability. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of training on reflective clinical practice. A sample of 78 professionals working within a U.K. regional ne...

Symptoms of depression and anxiety are commonly reported following brain injury, providing ongoing challenges to patients, clinicians and carers. There is increasing interest in the influence of impaired awareness on emotional distress, supported by psychological investigations. To explore the relationship between awareness and time since injury on...

To gauge the understanding and opinions of clinical neuropsychologists and speech and language therapists (SLT) in relation to vegetative (VS) and minimally conscious (MCS) patients relative to available practice guidelines. Semi-structured questionnaires were sent to all UK Practitioner Full Members of the BPS Division of Neuropsychology (307) and...

To investigate if errorless learning applied by carer(s) in an everyday setting can reduce the frequency of everyday memory problems following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Multiple baseline single case experimental design. A patient with severe memory impairment, six years post TBI was recruited via an outpatient neurorehabilitation clinic....

The recovery and psychosocial adjustment of a 41-year-old right handed women (K.E.) following subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) with initially poor predicted prognosis is presented. A single case report with an early post surgery 'Do Not Resuscitate' order following SAH with a significant period of impaired consciousness is outlined. Following a right...

Assessment of vegetative (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) patients presents clinicians with inherent difficulties (Royal College of Physicians, 2003) in terms of the reliable detection of potential signs of awareness given that all current assessment tools rely on observed behaviour. Recently developed measures such as SMART (Gill-Thwaites...

Limb activation studies involving contralesional spatiomotor cueing document a reduction of neglect for left space (Robertson & North, 1992, 1993, 1994; Samuel et al., 2000). A number of studies applying this approach have produced positive findings (Robertson, Hogg, & McMillan, 1998; Robertson, North, & Geggie, 1992; Robertson, McMillan, MacLeod,...

Over 16 years, Wilson [31] saw and assessed 567 patients, 18 (3.2%) had a primary diagnosis of cerebral hypoxia. The present patient survey includes all referrals for assessment, management/advice and neuropsychological rehabilitation to a part-time clinical neuropsychology service, who were seen by the first author over a five year period (October...

Much has been said and written about the importance of teams to the success of organisations and emphasis has been given to the benefits of team-building activities to achieving both team and organisational effectiveness. Describes attempts to move beyond team building and to link organisational development to team effectiveness in a coherent way....

A regional survey of Consultant level Neurology, Neurosurgical and Rehabilitation staff identified a retrospective estimate of patients in vegetative or minimally responsive states from their own clinical caseloads (October 1995--97). 35 patients were identified; the majority of whom were not currently placed in specialist brain injury facilities f...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of two rehabilitation techniques for unilateral spatial neglect, contra-lesional limb activation and sustained attention training, on impaired activities of daily living. METHODS: Two single case, time-series designs incorporating baseline, intervention and post-intervention phases. RESULTS: Significant improv...

Complementary therapies have been embraced by many nurses, but the effectiveness of such regimes on the wellbeing of patients has never been researched successfully. This article describes a pilot study which evaluated their effects on long-stay neurology patients.

This study considers the impact of a range of potentially traumatic events on a cohort of police officers. All RUC officers who were involved in critical incidents (July 1993–January 1994) were contacted at 7–10 months post incident. Following their verbal agreement to participate in the survey, officers received a questionnaire booklet requesting...