1/103. Civilian gunshot wounds to the head with brain stem localization. A case report.The authors present a case of a patient wounded to the head and back by civilian firearm projectiles. The case peculiarity is that only one bullet reached the brain stem level causing significant neurological deficits. The final clinical picture is comparable to the "caudal pontine tegmentum syndrome". The authors describe both the bullet path and the intracranial localization taking into account ballistic details. The problems associated with prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment for gunshot wounds are discussed. In addition, the authors explain the main intracranial lesions and their mechanisms, the role of investigation, and the protocol of medical and surgical treatment. Lastly, a systematic approach for treating these types of gunshot wounds is outlined.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/103. Carotid artery-sygmoid sinus fistula: a rare complication of gunshot wound on the base of the cranium.Vascular lesions without clinical manifestation may occur in cranial-facial wounds produced by bullets that course the base of the cranium. This work describes a rare kind of vascular complication in cranial-facial gunshot wound. The authors present the case of a patient, the victim of a cranium-maxillary gunshot wound. Carotid angiography revealed a carotid-sygmoid sinus fistula that filled the sygmoid and transverse sinuses, concomitant to the arterial angiographic phase. A direct communication between the external carotid artery and the sygmoid sinus was disclosed. We are not aware of any other description of this vascular complication in cranial gunshot wound. It is important to recognize this kind of complication in cases of cranial-facial gunshot wound, because new factors harmful to the brain perfusion systems are introduced, in addition to the alterations to venous return and intracranial pressure, caused by the primary trauma. The new non-invasive vascular diagnostic methods are proving useful in filling the gap left by arteriography, which is no longer used in these cases.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/103. brachial plexus gunshot injury in an infant.We present the case of an infant with a gunshot lesion in the brachial plexus. Intraoperative nerve action potential recordings suggested posterior cord neurolysis and medial and lateral cord grafting. After 3 years' follow-up complete recovery of motor and sensory function was seen as a result of immense nerve regeneration capability and brain plasticity. According to our knowledge this is the first reported case of such a mechanism of injury in an infant.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/103. Multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head: report of a case and review of the literature.Multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head are rare and usually present a challenge to the pathologist and to the police in determining the manner of death. We report a case of two suicidal gunshot wounds to the head. The literature is reviewed, and the pertinent findings, including location of the wounds, location of the brain injuries, types of weapons used, and criteria important to determine the manner of death, are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/103. Self-inflicted head trauma using a captive bolt pistol: report of three cases.Three cases of self-inflicted head trauma using a captive-bolt pistol are described. This is a rarely reported phenomenon and presents with an unique pattern of brain injury.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/103. Brain injury after survived gunshot to the head: reactive alterations at sites remote from the missile track.Gunshot wounds to the brain usually lead to acute respiratory arrest or death after a brief survival period, even in cases involving only slight direct tissue damage. It can be assumed therefore that the damage extends beyond the zone of recognizable destruction and hemorrhages. To determine the true extent of the tissue injury resulting from gunshot wounds to the brain, we carried out microscopic investigations for reactive changes (emigration of leukocytes and macrophages, axonal expression of beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) in 10 cases of gunshot wound to the narrow channel of the brain with survival times >2h. Demonstration of leukocytes expressing naphthol AS-D chloroacetate esterase activity in the brain tissue at the border of the missile track established the vitality of the gunshot effect. The presence of macrophages (CD68-epitope) allowed demarcation of a 1-2mm wide necrotic zone around the permanent cavity. Within this zone and beyond, beta-APP showed an initial increase followed by a decline in the number of injured axons. Three types of beta-APP positive staining could be differentiated. In the immediate vicinity of the missile track beta-APP positive neurons were present at a distance of 2-4mm from the margin of the permanent cavity (type 1) as a result of primary injured neuronal tissue by the gunshot itself. At longer distances from the narrow channel and the permanent cavity single beta-APP positive axons or axon fragments and two additional types were found; type 2 shows a parallel, wave-like arrangement of the damaged fibers, which suggests that the injury was produced by mechanical acceleration of the brain tissue created by the energy the projectile expended within the brain; irregular aggregation of beta-APP positive axons or axon fragments within a local edema represents type 3, which may be attributed to secondary ischemia or edema.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/103. High-velocity bullet causing indirect trauma to the brain and symptomatic epilepsy.epilepsy is a frequent consequence after missile wounds of the brain. So far, no epilepsy cases with missile injury have been described in which epilepsy ensued without direct missile injury of the brain. During world war ii, in 1941, our patient, then a soldier in the German army, suffered a bullet injury to the head; the bullet entered the cranium at the base of the nose. The bullet penetrated the head below the base of the cranium and remained stuck subcutaneously left of the second cervical vertebra. In the field hospital the patient suffered from focal seizures. The fits ceased within a few years under medication. In 1990 the seizures returned, this time with secondary generalization. In our case, a 7.62-mm bullet from the Russian Tokarev military pistol was used, which is known to have the highest muzzle velocity of all handguns available (> 500 m per second). We suspect that the so-called hydrodynamic effect of this high-velocity bullet caused an indirect trauma to the brain. This case shows that symptomatic epilepsy can occur after a penetrating head injury, without direct injury to brain tissue by a missile. High-velocity missiles are increasingly used in armed conflicts around the world. In light of the case reported here, in which the initial epilepsy was exacerbated more than 50 years after the wounding event, physicians must consider this possibility when dealing with veterans presenting with seizures. This case also has implications for the payment of benefits and pensions.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.6keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/103. Gunshot wound to the head with full recovery.A 28-year-old man was shot in the back of the head at close range by a robber who then locked him in a room assuming that he was dead. The man was discovered 2 days later. The entrance wound of the bullet was in the left occipital region and it passed into the periphery of the right temporal lobe, where it lodged. The man was transferred to a rehabilitation centre 3 weeks later in relatively good health with only slight general EEG changes. The mild clinical course in this case is attributable to two major factors: firstly, no important brain structures were injured, and secondly, the kinetic energy of the silver-tip hollow-point bullet was probably rather low. Three years after the incident, the man still has slight sensory disturbances in the fingers of the left hand and left-sided homonymous hemianopia. He is now working again at his old profession (managing director) and the projectile is still lodged in the right temporal lobe.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/103. Cranio-orbital missile wound and bullet migration. Case report.An unusual case of craniocerebral missile injury, with orbital roof perforation and spontaneous bullet migration into the maxillary sinus, is reported. emergency treatment consisted in wide craniectomy around the bullet entry point, blood and foreign bodies debridement. Subsequent procedures were necessary for abscess evacuation, transmaxillary bullet removal and later cranial vault reconstruction. Challenging aspects were the treatment of the infectious complications, following cerebrospinal fluid fistula through the wound, and the onset of post-traumatic epilepsy, scarcely responsive to common antiepileptic drugs. The treatment of the abscess by combined systemic and intracavitary antibiotic therapy and of the chronic seizures by progressive adjustment with new protocols of antiepileptic drugs under EEG and brain mapping revealed successful.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/103. Neuropathological findings associated with retained lead shot pellets in a man surviving two months after a suicide attempt.We describe the neuropathological findings in a 30-year-old man who died two months after attempting suicide with a shotgun. We focused our study on lesions associated with retained lead shot pellets and distant therefrom, as well as lesions distant from the principal site of injury. At the sites of the retained lead shot pellets, we found macrophage proliferation and astrocyte activation, together with axonal spheroids and signs of neuronal damage. In the remaining white matter we observed axonal swellings, astrocyte activation and rarefaction of the neuropil; regressive phenomena of the neurons were also present. All axonal spheroids immunoreacted with antibodies against APP, alphaB-crystallin, NF subunits and ubiquitin. Most reactive astrocytes were positive for GFAP and alphaB-crystallin immunostaining. Some neurons immunoreacting with alphaB-crystallin were also found. These data indicated that an important local reaction developed at the sites of lead shot retention, and mild signs of diffuse axonal damage were found throughout the brain.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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