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Abstract
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George G. Snively Memorial Lecture
In order to improve the prevention and treatment of head injuries, a complete understanding of them is essential. This goal must be met through a stepwise, sequential series of advances in our knowledge. A logical sequence for this effort could be to determine: 1) the types of head injuries that exist, their frequency, causes and importance with respect to death and disability, 2) the mechanism of causation of each injury with the use of appropriate models, 3) the tolerance of the human brain to each Injury, and 4) the precise mechanisms by which the brain responds to, repairs or deteriorates after traumatic injuries.
Over time, and particularly in the past two decades, advances have been made in all of these areas. As a take off for the series of annual Snively Memorial lectures, it Is therefore appropriate that this first lecture provide an overview of the current status of the head injuries. Since the subject is enormous, but especially because Dr. Snively's principal interest was in injury prevention, I will confine this presentation to areas of knowledge most needed for preventing head injuries, namely the biomechanics of the head injuries. |