Articles: brain-injuries.
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We studied the impact of age on outcomes for patients with severe blunt brain injury. ⋯ Elderly patients experienced higher mortality, had poorer functional recovery, more frequently died of secondary organ failure, and consumed more resources per favorable outcome than did younger patients with similar injury profiles despite equivalent treatment efforts.
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Thirty victims of criminal situations with craniocerebral injuries were examined. Clinical picture and time course of changes in the mental disorders, that are the most important for practical forensic medical expert evaluation, were analyzed, and approaches to the choice of the correct expert conclusion in assessment of the severity of injuries and of the victims' abilities discussed.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in humans typically produces neurological suppression and a longer lasting impairment of memory clinically defined as post-traumatic amnesia. An animal model that reliably reproduces the physiological changes associated with TBI was used to assess the memory deficits following brain injury. Prior to TBI, rats were trained to perform one of four tasks that assessed either motor performance, long-term or recent memory. ⋯ Differences in recent memory performance were found across all 6 test sessions. The memory deficits were clearly dissociated from motor deficits. The similar memory deficits observed following human head injury and the experimentally produced TBI injury demonstrate that fluid percussion is a useful approach to examine underlying neurobiological mechanisms involved in head injury and possible clinical interventions.
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Two cases of carotid artery injury due to shotgun blast are presented, one of which resulted in a carotid-cavernous sinus fistula. The diagnosis, natural history, and treatment of this condition is discussed, with emphasis on patient management.