Background: About half of Ecuadorians live at various levels of altitude. Brain function is affected by altitude changes, but little is known regarding the factors that lead to such abnormalities. Unraveling these will have significant implications for patients with neurocritical care diseases in Ecuador.
Objectives: 1. To carry out 4 research proposals over a period of 3 years; 2. To collaborate with and train local Ecuadorian investigators in the intricacies of clinical neurosciences research.
Materials and methods: HANAK project will be a multidisciplinary research collaboration between the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, TX (USA) and the Government of Ecuador (Yachay/Senescyt).
Results: we will present at the WCN the methods and scientific rationale for the 4 research proposals that are funded for this project: 1. Prospective Registry of Clinical Management and Long-Term Outcomes of Patients with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Intracranial Hemorrhage in Latin America at various levels of altitude; 2. The cerebral effects of ascent to high altitude: non-invasive multimodality brain monitoring; 3. Pressure Reactivity Index (PRx) Monitoring in the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in Quito and Guayaquil; and 4. Study of Atherosclerosis in Ecuador: influence of varying altitude levels.
Conclusions: Understanding brain behavior at various levels of altitude will lead to better and more targeted treatments. Current therapies are based in clinical studies that have been carried out at sea level. In addition, the research infrastructure for clinical neuroscience research in Ecuador will improve.
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© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
