Pick's disease and head trauma.

This is a clinico-pathological study of the relationship between Pick's disease and head trauma. Seven of our autopsied cases with Pick's disease had clinical histories and/or neuropathological evidence of a head trauma. Two cases showed no pathological evidence of traumatic brain damage, although they had clinical histories of a head trauma. The other five cases had old contusions located chiefly on the frontal and temporal bases. As far as we know, there is no reported case of Pick's disease with old contusions in the literature. Therefore, our five cases are of great importance to the study of the relationship between Pick's atrophic processes and traumatic brain damage. The conclusion of our study is that traumatic brain damage involving the atrophy centers of Pick's disease or the adjacent regions could evoke or intensify Pick's atrophic processes.