Paroxysmal episodic hypothalamic instability with hypothermia after traumatic brain injury

Abstract

This case report describes a patient in vegetative state after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) with hypothalamic damage and clinical manifestations of autonomic dysfunction. He also presented late onset paroxysmal hypothermia associated with mild bradycardia and hypotension. Hypothermia due to traumatic lesions of the hypothalamus is an uncommon clinical problem and few cases have been reported; no cases could be found in the literature which evidenced periodic hypothermia associated with clinical features of autonomic dysfunction after TBI. In the article, the main causes and the primary pathophysiology of hypothermia after TBI are discussed. The manifestations in this patient have been interpreted as possible consequences of autonomic dysfunction and considered atypical and rare clinical expression of acute post-traumatic hypothalamic instability.