• Y Tan, S Zhou, Y Liu, and Z Li.
• Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Chongqing, P.R. China.
• J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 1998 Mar 1;56(3):345-8.

PurposeThis study investigated the pathologic characteristics and some related factors of cerebral damage associated with maxillofacial high-velocity missile wounds.Materials And MethodsSixty dogs, divided into two groups, were wounded randomly by steel spheres weighting 1.03 g at impact velocities of 1,400 m/s (46 dogs) and 800 m/s (14 dogs). Six dogs served as controls. The maxillofacial wounds and cerebral injuries were examined grossly. The distance between the center of wound and the base of skull and the largest diameter of the wound were measured, and the incidence of the brain injury in the two groups was compared. The cerebral specimens, dissected at 1 and 6 hours after trauma, were observed by light and electron microscopy.ResultsCerebral hyperemia, contusion, spotty hemorrhage, and intracerebral hematoma were found in some of the dogs. In the 1,400 m/s velocity missile wound group, the incidence of the brain injury was 71.7% (33 of 46), and in the 800 m/s group it was 7.1% (1 of 14) on macroscopic examination. Microscopic observation showed intracerebral microhemotomas and degeneration and necrosis of the nervous cells.ConclusionHigh-velocity projectile maxillofacial wounds can induce associated brain injury.

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