Citation

Hayman E, Keledjian K, Stokum JA, Pampori A, Gerzanich V, Simard JM. J. Neurotrauma 2018; 35(17): 2136-2142.

Affiliation

University of Maryland Hospital - North, Neurosurgery , 22 South Greene St , Suite S12D , Baltimore, Maryland, United States , 21201 ; msimard@smail.umaryland.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2017.5435

PMID

29566593

Abstract

Primary blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI) accounts for a significant proportion of wartime trauma. Previous studies have demonstrated direct brain injury by blast waves, but the effect of the location of the blast epicenter on the skull with regard to brain injury remains poorly characterized. In order to investigate the role of the blast epicenter location, we modified a previously established rodent model of cranium-only bTBI to evaluate two specific blast foci: a rostrally focused blast centered on the Bregma (B-bTBI), which excluded the foramen magnum region, and a caudally focused blast centered on the occipital crest, which included the Foramen Magnum region (FM-bTBI). At all blast overpressures studied (668-1880 kPa), rats subjected to FM-bTBI demonstrated strikingly higher mortality, increased durations of both apnea and hypoxia, and increased severity of convexity subdural hematomas, compared to rats subjected to B-bTBI. Together, these data suggest a unique role of the foramen magnum region in mortality and brain injury following blast exposure, and emphasize the importance of the choice of blast focus location in experimental models of bTBI.

Language: en

Keywords

GLIA CELL RESPONSE TO INJURY; Other; Rat; TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY