The correlation between surgical and CT estimates of brain damage following missile wounds.

The occurrence of distant brain damage following an apparent focal missile injury to the brain has not been well documented until computerized tomography scanning demonstrated this phenomenon. Mechanisms of additional or distant damage within the brain may include a high deposit of kinetic energy from the penetrating missile, additional vascular damage, and possibly neuronal and axonal degeneration. Widespread and distant brain changes may explain some instances of late neuropsychological and psychiatric dysfunction or rehabilitation failure following a brain wound. Brain imaging should be used to properly evaluate the full extent of brain damage following wounding.