Hemostasis and computerized tomography in head injury. Their relationship to clinical features

Coagulation studies (plasma fibrinogen, ethanol gelation test, and fibrin-fibrinogen degradation product concentration) and computerized tomography (CT) scan examinations were performed in 55 patients with blunt head injury. The frequency of abnormalities in both coagulation study results and CT scans was higher in patients with severe clinical features and clinical course than in less severely injured patients; in these same patients the coagulation results were abnormal (64%) more frequently than the CT scans (40%). Very high fibrin-fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) concentrations were found to be associated with combined hemorrhagic lesions and mass effect on CT scans, but not with a specific localization of brain-tissue damage. It was concluded that: 1) FDP concentration reflects the amount of brain-tissue damage rather than its location, and 2) in the absence of other possible causes of disseminated intravascular coagulation, coagulation studies may be more sensitive than CT scanning in demonstrating brain contusion.