Initial CT Findings of the Early Death after Head Injury

ABSTRACT

We examined the initial CT findings of the early(within on week) death after head injury, retrospectively. The patient population consisted of 182 patients who were admitted to the Soonchunhyand University Chonan Hospital, and were examined by CT, from August 1986 to May 1990 after head injury. We compared clinical features and radiological findings between the group of focal lesion and the group of diffuse lesion. The focal lesion was found in 47.8%, while the diffuse lesion was found in 45.6%. Statistically significant differences were found in the age, Glasgow Coma Score(GCS) on admission, injury Severity Score(ISS), hypotension, and hypoxia. The focal lesion was more common in the aged, while the diffuse lesion was common in the young(less than 40 years of age). Patients with high GCS(more than 8) constitued 25.3% of the focal lesion, while only 6.0% of the duffuse lesion had the high GCS. ISS was higher than 30 in 67.5% of the diffuse lesion, while 32.2% of the focal lesion had ISS of 30 or more. The causes of injury was pedestrian traffic accident in 46.5% and passanger's traffic accident in 31.8%. Midline shift(more than 3mm), compressed ventricles, and obliteration of the suprasellar cistern and quadrigeminal cistern were observed in 34.1%, 82.4%, 67.6%, and 58.2%, respectively. Lesions with severe midline shift were focal in 93.1% and lesions without midline shift were diffuse in 88.4%(P<0.005). Cranial vault fracture was noticed in 68.2%, and basal skull fracture was found in 28.8%. The frequency of basal skull fracture was high in the diffuse lesion(P<0.005). In this study, we could presumed that 17.2% to 25.3% of the patients with focal lesions could be saved, if proper treatment was given. Since the diffuse lesion was responsible for nearly half of the early death after head injury, proper treatment or prevention should be made. Prevention of the diffuse lesion seems to be possible by correction of hypotension and hypoxia for the diffuse lesions were intimately related to them. At any event, further studies on the diffuse brain injury are required.