Noncontrast and perfusion CT provides accurate assessment of head deceleration injury

To investigate the feasibility of noncontrast computed tomography (NcCT) and perfusion CT (PCT) in the assessment of head deceleration injury (HDI).

A small animal HDI device was developed. A total of 20 healthy adult rabbits with frontal impacts resulting from a 3.5 m drop were included in this study. All subjects underwent NcCT and PCT scans 12 hours before injury and three to four hours after head injury. Brain injuries were evaluated by traditional macroscopic and microscopic examination after CT scans.

Microscopic examination revealed hemorrhagic cerebral contusions in 14 subjects and cerebral parenchyma hyperemia in 6 subjects. Contrecoup injuries were more severe than the coup injuries in this study. As verified by pathoanatomical observations, NcCT effectively revealed all of the calvarial fractures and basal skull fractures in 12 subjects. Furthermore, most rabbits suffered acute scalp contusions, subarachnoid hemorrhages and cerebral contusions. PCT analysis revealed much larger and more severe contusions when compared to those observed via NcCT.

The combination of NcCT and PCT could be an effective approach for detection of acute cerebral contusions, which can provide sufficient experimental evidence for accurate clinical diagnosis and prognosis of HDI.