British journal of anaesthesia
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The knowledge of the pathophysiology after traumatic head injury is necessary for adequate and patient-oriented treatment. As the primary insult, which represents the direct mechanical damage, cannot be therapeutically influenced, target of the treatment is the limitation of the secondary damage (delayed non-mechanical damage). ⋯ Furthermore, excitotoxic cell damage and inflammation may lead to apoptotic and necrotic cell death. Understanding the multidimensional cascade of secondary brain injury offers differentiated therapeutic options.
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Head injury remains an important cause of death and disability in young adults. This review will discuss the role of structural imaging using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and physiological imaging using CT perfusion, 131Xe CT, MRI and spectroscopy (MRS), single photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography (PET) in the assessment, management, and prediction of outcome after head injury. CT allows rapid assessment of brain pathology which ensures patients who require urgent surgical intervention receive appropriate care. ⋯ MR technology continues to develop and is becoming generally available. Using a complex variety of sequences, MR can provide data concerning both structural and physiological derangements. Future developments with such imaging techniques should improve understanding of the pathophysiology of brain injury and provide data that should improve management and prediction of functional outcome.