[Modern approaches to the diagnosis of head injury]

The diagnosis of head injury should be based on certain principles. Each of them is important and has its own history. The authors summarize the experience of treatment of head injury using clinical and neuroimaging methods at the NN Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute (now the NN Burdenko National Research Center for Neurosurgery) for more than 30 years. The following principles of diagnosis of head injury were suggested and tested in clinical practice: severity of patient's state; clinical syndromes; topical diagnosis; neuroimaging; phasicity; age-related approach; data synthesis; sufficiency; individual approach. Taken together, these principles provide complete personalized diagnosis and prognosis which allow choosing an optimal management of the patient. The strategy for better diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of head injury is the combined use of clinical, neuroimaging and ethical approaches.