Traumatic axonal injury: neuropathological features, postmortem diagnostic methods, and strategies

Area of Science:

• Forensic pathology
• Neuropathology
• Traumatic brain injury research

Background:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to significant morbidity and socioeconomic impact.
• Traumatic axonal injury (TAI), a key component of TBI, results from mechanical stress on brain white matter.
• Current diagnostic biomarkers for TAI are primarily for living individuals, not postmortem forensic cases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and summarize postmortem diagnostic markers for TAI.
• To outline strategies for diagnosing TAI in forensic cases with varying survival times.
• To address the current limitations in the autopsy diagnosis of TAI.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of pathological mechanisms of TAI.
• Analysis of common methods and techniques for postmortem TAI diagnosis.
• Identification and summary of relevant biomarkers for postmortem TAI detection.

Main Results:

• TAI diagnosis in forensic pathology remains a significant challenge.
• Existing TAI biomarkers are largely unsuitable for postmortem examination.
• A lack of recognized autopsy indicators for TAI hinders accurate diagnosis.

Conclusions:

• Effective postmortem diagnostic strategies for TAI are needed.
• This review provides a comprehensive summary of TAI pathology and diagnostic approaches.
• The findings are significant for improving forensic pathological diagnosis of TAI.