[Electron microscopic study of the human cerebral cortex in the perifocal zone of a contusion]

Ultrastructure of the brain temporal lobe has been studied in patients with a severe closed craniocerebral trauma far from the crushing focus. An increased osmiophilia has been revealed in some neurons. In neuronal cytoplasm mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum swell, lysosomal structures increase in number. Myelin membranes, in some places, form protrusions owing to delamination of their plates. Some synapses are at the initial stage of the light type degeneration. Astrocytes, first of all their processes, undergo certain edematous changes. Electron density of oligodendrocytic nucleus and that of cytoplasm increase.