Identification of Clinically Relevant Groups of Patients Through the Application of Cluster Analysis to a Complex Traumatic Brain Injury Data Set.

In neurological intensive care units (NICUs) we are collecting an ever increasing quantity of data. These range from patient demographics and physiological monitoring to treatment strategies and outcomes. The BrainIT database is an example of this type of rich data source. It contains validated data on 264 patients who suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to 22 NICUs in 11 European countries between March 2003 and July 2005 [1, 6].