Brain contusion, latin contusio cerebri, a form of traumatic brain injury, is a bruise of the brain tissue. Like bruises in other tissues, cerebral contusion can be caused by multiple microhemorrhages, small blood vessel leaks into brain tissue. Head CT scans of unconscious patients reveal that 20% have hemorrhagic contusion (Downie, 2001). Brain damage or brain injury is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. ... A bruise or contusion or ecchymosis is a kind of injury, usually caused by blunt impact, in which the capillaries are damaged, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding tissue. ... The arterial system The blood vessels are part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body. ... CAT apparatus in a hospital Computed axial tomography (CAT), computer-assisted tomography, computed tomography, CT, or body section roentgenography is the process of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around... Unconsciousness is the absence of consciousness. ... A subconjunctival hemorrhage is a common and relatively minor post-LASIK complication. ...

Causes

Often caused by a blow to the head, contusions commonly occur in coup or contrecoup injuries. They occur primarily in the cortical tissue, especially under the site of impact or in areas of the brain located near sharp ridges on the inside of the skull. When, after impact, the brain moves over the sharp protrusions that exist on the base of the skull (Shepherd, 2004), these ridges can cut delicate brain tissue. The protruberances are located on the inside of the skull under the frontal and temporal lobes and on the roof of the ocular orbit (Shepherd, 2004). Thus, the tips of the frontal and temporal lobes located near the bony ridges in the skull are areas where contusions frequently occur (Boone and de Montfort, 2002) and are most severe (Graham and Gennareli, 2000). For this reason, attention, emotional and memory problems, which are associated with damage to frontal and temporal lobes, are much more common in head trauma survivors than are syndromes associated with damage to other areas of the brain (Bigler, 2000). Location of the cerebral cortex Slice of the cerebral cortex, ca. ... The frontal lobe is an area in the brain of vertebrates. ... The temporal lobes are part of the cerebrum. ... In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. ... Head injury is a trauma to the head, that may or may not include injury to the brain (see also brain injury). ...

Features

Contusions, which are frequently associated with edema, are especially likely to cause increases in intracranial pressure (ICP) and concomitant crushing of delicate brain tissue. Contusions are also more likely to result in hemorrhage than is diffuse axonal injury because they occur more often in the cortex, an area with more blood vessels (GE Healthcare, 2004). Intracranial pressure, or ICP, is the pressure of the brain, Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and the brains blood supply within the intracranial space. ... Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a type of brain injury that is the result of traumatic deceleration injuries of the brain. ... The arterial system The blood vessels are part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body. ...

Contusions typically form in a wedge-shape with the widest part in the outermost part of the brain (Vinas and Pilistis, 2004).

Multiple petechial hemorrhages

Numerous small contusions from broken capillaries that occur in grey matter under the cortex are called multiple petechial hemorrhages or multifocal hemorrhagic contusion (GE Healthcare, 2004). Caused by shearing injuries at the time of impact, these contusions occur especially at the junction between grey and white matter and in the upper brain stem, basal ganglia, thalamus and areas near the third ventricle (GE Healthcare, 2004; Downie, 2001). The hemorrhages can occur as the result of brain herniation, which can cause arteries to tear and bleed (GE Healthcare, 2004). A type of diffuse brain injury, multiple petechial hemorrhages are not always visible using current imaging techniques like CT and MRI scans. This may be the case even if the injury is quite severe, though these may show up days after the injury (Downie, 2001). Hemorrhages may be larger than in normal contusions if the injury is quite severe. This type of injury has a poor prognosis if the patient is comatose, even with no apparent causes for the coma (Downie, 2001). The term brain stem (truncus encephali is a Latin synonym) refers to a composite substructure of the brain. ... The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei in the brain associated with motor and learning functions. ... MRI cross-section of human brain, with thalamus marked. ... The ventricular system is a set of structures in the brain continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord. ... Herniation, a deadly side effect of very high intracranial pressure, occurs when the brain shifts across structures within the skull. ... The mri are a fictional alien species in the Faded Sun Trilogy of C.J. Cherryh. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Cerebral lacerations

Cerebral lacerations, related to contusions, occur when the pia or arachnoid membranes are cut or torn (Vinas and Pilistis, 2004). Frequently associated with skull fractures, lacerations involve a tearing of cortical tissue. The pia mater (Latin: tender mother, itself a translation from Arabic) is the delicate innermost layer of the meninges - the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. ... The Arachnoid mater is one of the three layers of the meninges, interposed between the dura mater and the pia mater and separated from the pia mater by the subarachnoid space. ... A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the bones in the skull caused by a head injury. ... Definition A cut is an injury that results in a break or opening in the skin. ...

Outcome

Contusions are likely to heal on their own without medical intervention (Sanders and McKenna, 2001).

See also

• Traumatic brain injury
• Brain damage
• Focal brain injury
• Concussion
• Diffuse axonal injury
• Intracranial hemorrhage
• Epidural hematoma
• Subdural hematoma
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage
• intraparenchymal hematoma

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), traumatic injuries to the brain, also called acquired brain injury, intracranial injury, or simply head injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. ... Brain damage or brain injury is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. ... Your brain floats within your skull surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). ... Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a type of brain injury that is the result of traumatic deceleration injuries of the brain. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Nontraumatic epidural hematoma in a young woman. ... A subdural hematoma, also called a subdural hemorrhage, is a collection of blood between the dura (the outer protective covering of the brain) and the arachnoid (the middle layer of the meninges). ... A subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space surrounding the brain, i. ... Intra-axial hemorrhages, or intra-axial hematomas, are a subtype of intracranial hemorrhage that occur within the brain tissue itself. ...

References

• Downie A. 2001. "Tutorial: CT in Head Trauma"
• GE Healthcare. 2004. "Brain injury, traumatic." The Encyclopedia of Medical Imaging. Amershamhealth.com. Volume VI:1. GE Company.
• Graham DI and Gennareli TA. Chapter 5, "Pathology of Brain Damage After Head Injury" Cooper P and Golfinos G. 2000. Head Injury, 4th Ed. Morgan Hill, New York.

1. Shepherd S. 2004. "Head Trauma." Emedicine.com.
2. Vinas FC and Pilitsis J. 2004. "Penetrating Head Trauma." Emedicine.com.

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