Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2026
Assessing Cortical Cerebral Microinfarcts on High Resolution MR Images
Published on: November 20, 2015
A system of radiological criteria for grading and prognosticating temporal lobe contusions
Pulak Nigam1, Shyam S Krishnan2, Anil Pande3
1Medanta Multi-speciality Hospital, India.
Introduction:
Temporal contusions are common in patients with head injuries and require close monitoring due to the propensity of these patients to deteriorate rapidly and fatally. This study attempts to introduce a radiological grading system for temporal lobe contusions and analyse its prognostic value so as to better identify patients at risk of deterioration.
Methods:
The study was conducted as a cross-sectional observational study from April 2011-March 2017 on 42 patients with temporal lobe contusion. Each patients was graded according to the proposed system from a minimum of four to a maximum of 13 and then further grouped in three grades - grade 1 (score = 4), grade 2 (score 5-7) and grade 3 (score > 7) - and their clinical course was closely observed.
Results:
The minimum and maximum scores observed were four and 11 respectively. The proposed grading system has statistically significant correlation to the Glasgow Coma Scale (p-value < 0.05). All patients in grade 1 (17) could be managed conservatively, while all those in grade 3 (five) needed immediate surgical intervention. Of 20 patients in grade 2, 11 had a score of 5-6 and did not require surgery, whereas nine patients had a score of seven and of these eight required delayed surgical intervention. This correlation was statistically significant (p-value < 0.05).
Conclusion:
The proposed temporal lobe contusion grading system is a good radiological tool to predict the clinical course of patients and thereby identify patients at higher risk of delayed deterioration.
