# ELECTRO-BOOST: Electroencephalography for cerebral trauma recovery and oxygenation

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $707,787

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Electrographic seizures (ESz) and high-frequency periodic discharges (HF-PD) are present in
approximately
30%
of
severe
traumatic
brain
injury
(sTBI)
patients
and
are
associated
with
poor
outcomes
across
a
range
of
acute
brain
injuries.
ESz and HF-PD are associated with hypermetabolism that demands
more energy than supplied, particularly in patients vulnerable from acute brain injury. A gap in knowledge
exists regarding whether ESz and HF-PD result in secondary brain injury in sTBI and are treatment-responsive.
To date, no existing treatment guidelines are available regarding which epileptiform abnormalities result in
secondary brain injury or respond to treatment after sTBI. Thus, our central hypothesis is that ESz and HF-
PD represent a treatable biomarker of metabolic crisis and secondary brain injury in at-risk tissue. The long-
range goal of our research program is to improve the outcomes of sTBI patients by developing treatment
strategies that reduce acute secondary brain injury. The proposed project is significant because it will 1)
establish if ESz and HF-PD exposure is linked with metabolic crisis, 2) quantify the impact of ESz and HF-PD
on clinical outcome, and 3) investigate the effect of clinical treatment on ESz and HF-PD exposure in a large,
generalizable population of sTBI patients. BOOST-3 (Brain Oxygen Optimization in Severe TBI Phase 3 trial,
U01 NS099946) is a multicenter clinical trial to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a treatment strategy using
invasively monitoring to optimize PbtO2 and ICP compared to ICP alone. It offers a unique infrastructure in a
codified cohort to quantify the complex relationship between EEG abnormalities, PbtO2, ICP, clinical outcomes,
and treatment. We will evaluate our central hypothesis in 250 BOOST-3 patients from selected BOOST-3 sites
performing continuous EEG (cEEG) as standard of care in sTBI patients undergoing invasive multimodality
monitoring. We will address the following specific aims: Specific Aim 1: Demonstrate the influence of ESz
and HF-PD on brain tissue oxygenation after sTBI. We will establish the relationship between ESz, HF-PD,
brain hypoxia, and elevated ICP to determine if ESz and HF-PD are a dynamic biomarker of secondary brain
injury related to metabolic crisis after sTBI. Specific Aim 2: Quantify the effect of ESz and HF-PD exposure
on functional outcome after sTBI. We will determine the effect of elevations in the peak exposure to ESz and
HF-PD on functional outcome measured by Glasgow Outcome Scale – Extended (GOSE) 6 months after sTBI.
Specific Aim 3: Quantify the effect of ESz and HF-PD exposure on functional outcome after sTBI. We
will evaluate the change in ESz and HF-PD exposure after anti-seizure drug intervention. Further, we will
measure the change in quantitative measures of EEG frequency and networks as well as Glasgow Coma
Scale (GCS) score trends before and after the administration of anti-seizure drugs. The findings from this
study will le...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10033586
- **Project number:** 1R01NS117904-01
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** KAN DING
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $707,787
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10033586

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10033586, ELECTRO-BOOST: Electroencephalography for cerebral trauma recovery and oxygenation (1R01NS117904-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10033586. Licensed CC0.

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