Computed tomography in the prediction of outcome in head injury

To determine the prognostic significance of computed tomographic (CT) findings in head injury, retrospective analysis was performed in 128 randomly selected severe head-injury patients managed with a standardized protocol. The minimal criterion for entry into this study was that the patients were unable to obey simple commands or utter formed words. Serial CT was performed on admission and 3-5 days, 2 weeks, 3 months, and 1 year after injury. A scale of severity of abnormalities was devised taking into account the size of the traumatic lesions on CT. The CT findings using the proposed scale were correlated with the clinical outcome and analyzed using linear logistic regression. Other characteristics such as midline shift, multiplicity, and corpus callosum and brainstem lesions were not included in the analysis either because they did not affect the prognosis or because too few of these lesions were present for statistical analysis. The correct prediction rate of outcome using the proposed scale for CT findings alone was found to be 69.7%. When CT findings were combined with the Glasgow Coma Scale score this rate was increased to 75.8%.