[Injuries of cranial nerves II-VII in 350 patients hospitalized due to closed head trauma].

Ophthalmological examination was performed in 350 consecutive inpatients with closed head injury, treated in the Neurosurgical Department, Białystok over a period of two years. The group comprised 266 men and 84 women, aged between 16 and 90 years. The purpose of the study was to screen for the symptoms of damage to cranial nerves II-VII. In 12% of cases internal, external or total III nerve palsy was identified. In 2% of cases there were symptoms of damage to the VII nerve, in 1.4% of damage to the V nerve and in 1.1% to the II nerve. In 0.6% of cases damage was observed to the VI nerve. There were no cases of damage to the IV nerve. Thus the III nerve was found to be the most susceptible to damage in head-injured patients.