Hippocampal damage in fatal paediatric head injury

Abstract

The hippocampus is known to be frequently involved in head injury. In adults, such hippocampal lesions frequently include regions of selective neuronal necrosis. The present report examines the frequency and distribution of hippocampal damage in 37 cases of fatal head injury in children. Damage to the hippocampus was noted in 27 of 37 cases (73%). Lesions were often focal areas of selective neuronal necrosis located in the CA-1 subfield. Other subfields of the hippocampus were involved to lesser degrees. The frequency and distribution of hippocampal damage in fatal childhood head injury is similar to that reported for fatal head injuries of all ages. Pathological evidence of high intracranial pressure and/or hypoxic brain damage in other anatomical locations was present in the majority of cases. Clinical seizures prior to death occurred in 22% of the cases studied. However, these factors could not account for all cases of hippocampal damage in the present report. Thus, the hippocampus is frequently damaged in fatal head injury in children. The mechanisms involved in the production of such damage may involve hypoxia, raised intracranial pressure and altered cerebral perfusion. However, other, yet to be elucidated, mechanisms may be involved.

Maturation-dependent response of neurogenesis after traumatic brain injury in children

“…42,46,47,74 However, the literature is far from agreement on how the hippocampus is affected by trauma. In the current study, our finding of an unaltered number of migrating neuroblasts in the hippocampus of children following TBI is similar to the results of Chirumamilla and colleagues, 11 who did not observe increased neurogenesis in the hippocampus of adult rats 48 hours after fluid percussion injury.…”

Pulsatile shear stress leads to DNA fragmentation in human SH‐SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line

“…During experimental glaucoma, it has been observed that retinal ganglion cells in the glaucomatous eye die via apoptosis (Garcia-Valenzuela et al 1995). Moreover, autopsy of 37 cases of fatal head injury showed selective neuronal apoptosis in the hippocampal region of the brain (Kotapka et al 1993). An increase in nitrite in the cell culture medium was observed in response to shear in SH-SY5Y cells, as shown in Fig.…”

Changes in White Matter Late after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in Childhood

“…A variety of studies in adults -autopsy, MRI volumetry and functional testing -indicate the presence of hippocampal injury in TBI. For example, in the majority of fatal cases, there is hippocampal damage of at least one CA1 subfield, and bilateral injury is present in approximately 75% [Kotapka et al, 1992[Kotapka et al, , 1993[Kotapka et al, , 1994. In fact, the degree of hippocampal atrophy is associated with the severity of TBI [Tate and Bigler, 2000], but not necessarily the presence of intracranial hypertension.…”