PURPOSE. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the role of rib fractures for the outcome in blunt chest trauma, to examine the mortality rate and the need of hospitalization of patients underwent blunt thoracic trauma. METHODS. 212 patients with fractured ribs after blunt thoracic trauma were included in the study. The mechanism of trauma, the number of fractured ribs; the type of associated thoracic injuries and the mortality rate were analyzed. RESULTS. The patients were divided in two groups according to the number of fractured ribs-group 1-patients with up to two fractured ribs-72 patients/33,9%/, and group 2-with three or more fractured ribs-140 patients /66,1%/. The number of associated chest injuries was significantly higher in the second group-in 133 patients/95%/.The mortality rate was 16,9% /36 patients/.The mortality rate was significantly higher for the group of patients at the age above 65 years and for the group of patients with multiple/≥3/ rib fractures. CONCLUSIONS. Our study confirms the role of rib fractures as a marker of severity in cases of blunt chest trauma patients.

PURPOSE. The aim of our retrospective study was to analyze the patterns of associated thoracic injuries in patients underwent blunt chest trauma and rib fractures. METHODS. The study included 212 patients with rib fractures due to blunt thoracic trauma. The mechanism of trauma, the type of rib fracture and the type of associated injuries were analyzed. RESULTS. The patients were divided in two groups according to the number of fractured ribs-group I included the patients with up to two fractured ribs (72 patients-33,9%), and group II -with ≥3 fractured ribs (140 patients-66,1%). Associated chest injuries were present in 36 of the patients from group I (50%), and in 133 patients from group II (95%). Pulmonary contusion was the most common intrathoracicinjurie-65,6% of the cases. The mean hospital stay was 8, 7 days. The lethality rate was 16,9% -all of them due to the associated chest injuries. CONCLUSIONS. The mortality related to rib fractures is affected by the associated thoracic injuries, the advanced age, and the number of fractured ribs.

Gerstmann syndrome is a classical cerebral syndrome in neurology, named after Joseph Gerstmann, a Jewish Austrian-born American neurologist. Patients present with a tetrad of cognitive symptoms, including agraphia, acalculia, finger agnosia and left-right disorientation. The syndrome is known to result from a lesion of the posterior portion of the dominant parietal lobe and is usually due to stroke or to developmental problems. We describe the case of a 35-year-old man whose illness debuted about 9 months before the initial presentation to the neurology clinic, with memory complaints, anxiety, verbal aggression, sleeping problems, as well as subjective word finding difficulty and depressed mood. The patient had 3 out of the 4 classic symptoms of Gerstmann syndrome, among other, mostly neuropsychiatric symptoms. Initially, structural lesions were sought for, but were not found on magnetic resonance imaging. Psychiatric conditions were discussed but not confirmed by the consulting psychiatrist. We are prone to accepting a non-organic reason for the condition of the patient, but follow-up of the clinical course and repeated assessments, including neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations, structural and possibly functional neuroimaging will be required to verify and confirm this presumption.