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Neuropathology of Explosive Blast Traumatic Brain Injury

  • Neurotrauma (J Levine, Section Editor)
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Abstract

During the conflicts of the Global War on Terror, which are Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), there have been over a quarter of a million diagnosed cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The vast majority are due to explosive blast. Although explosive blast TBI (bTBI) shares many clinical features with closed head TBI (cTBI) and penetrating TBI (pTBI), it has unique features, such as early cerebral edema and prolonged cerebral vasospasm. Evolving work suggests that diffuse axonal injury (DAI) seen following explosive blast exposure is different than DAI from focal impact injury. These unique features support the notion that bTBI is a separate and distinct form of TBI. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge pertaining to bTBI. Areas of discussion are: the physics of explosive blast generation, blast wave interaction with the bony calvarium and brain tissue, gross tissue pathophysiology, regional brain injury, and cellular and molecular mechanisms of explosive blast neurotrauma.

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Acknowledgments

The USUHS Neurotrauma laboratory gratefully acknowledges grant funding from the Defense Medical Research and Development Program # NA92HW.

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The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors. They do not and should not be interpreted as being those of or endorsed by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the U.S. Army, the Dept. of Defense or the federal government.

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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  1. Department of Neuroscience, Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd, Bethesda, MD, 20814-4799, USA

    John Magnuson

  2. Department of Neurology, Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd, Bethesda, MD, 20814-4799, USA

    Fabio Leonessa & Geoffrey S. F. Ling

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Correspondence to Geoffrey S. F. Ling.

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Magnuson, J., Leonessa, F. & Ling, G.S.F. Neuropathology of Explosive Blast Traumatic Brain Injury. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 12, 570–579 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-012-0303-6

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