Original scientific paper
CT Follow-Up and Clinical Outcome in Severe Traumatic Injury Patients
Stanko Belina
Sanja Kovačić
Abstract
Determining a patient’s prognosis after severe traumatic brain injury remains difficult and complex. The purpose of
the present study was following up patients with severe traumatic brain injury by correlating their clinical outcome and
sequential computer tomography (CT) findings. We investigated 51 patients who survived the first year following an accident.
All patients underwent successive CT examinations within a maximum period of 2 years. The patients’ outcomes
depended on the underlying brain damage and are presented by the Glasgow Outcome Scale. Based on the investigated
data we concluded that the worst outcomes were experienced by patients with initial massive cerebral edema, extensive
subdural hematoma and intraventricular hemorrhage, followed by stroke as subacute CT finding and cerebral atrophy
as chronic finding visible at follow-up CT scans. The majority of lesions identified by CT scan were found in the frontal
lobes, basal ganglia, and temporal lobes. We suggest that CT examination still represents a simple and useful tool in attempting
to predict the clinical outcome in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
Keywords
traumatic brain injury; computer tomography; clinical outcome
Hrčak ID:
75636
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2011.
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