Neuropsychological deficits in symptomatic minor head injury patients after concussion and mild concussion.

Recent studies have concluded that most individuals who sustain minor head injury are free of persistent neuropsychological dysfunction. Nevertheless, a subgroup of patients experience continuing post-concussive difficulties and neuropsychological deficits. This study examined 53 symptomatic minor head injury patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation between one and 22 months after injury. These individuals performed significantly poorer than uninjured controls on four of eight neuropsychological tests. Patients who lost consciousness during injury obtained test scores similar to persons who experienced disorientation or confusion but no loss of consciousness. The results indicate that minor head injury patients who report post-concussive symptoms possess measurable neuropsychological deficits and the severity of these deficits is independent of neurological status immediately following injury.

[1]  R. Grossman,et al.  Long-term neuropsychological outcome of closed head injury. , 1979, Journal of neurosurgery.

[2]  W. Rutherford,et al.  SEQUELÆ OF CONCUSSION CAUSED BY MINOR HEAD INJURIES , 1977, The Lancet.

[3]  T. McMillan,et al.  Neuropsychological evaluation of mild head injury. , 1985, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[4]  D. Gronwall,et al.  Time off work and symptoms after minor head injury. , 1981, Injury.

[5]  S. Mulaik,et al.  Single-sample tests for many correlations. , 1977 .

[6]  D. Stuss,et al.  How Long Does It Take to Recover from a Mild Concussion? , 1988, Neurosurgery.

[7]  W. Rutherford,et al.  Symptoms at one year following concussion from minor head injuries. , 1979, Injury.

[8]  A. Rey.  L'examen psychologique dans les cas d'encéphalopathie traumatique. (Les problems.). , 1941 .

[9]  D. Gronwall,et al.  Persisting effects of minor head injury observable during hypoxic stress , 1980 .

[10]  B. Giordani,et al.  Disability caused by minor head injury. , 1981, Neurosurgery.

[11]  P. Yarnell,et al.  Minor whiplash head injury with major debilitation. , 1988, Brain injury.

[12]  R G Grossman,et al.  The National Traumatic Coma Data Bank. Part 1: Design, purpose, goals, and results. , 1983, Journal of neurosurgery.

[13]  D. Gronwall,et al.  Delayed recovery of intellectual function after minor head injury. , 1974, Lancet.

[14]  S. Dikmen,et al.  Neuropsychological and psychosocial consequences of minor head injury. , 1986, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[15]  B. Giordani,et al.  Neuropsychological sequelae of minor head injury. , 1983, Neurosurgery.

[16]  D. Gronwall.  Paced Auditory Serial-Addition Task: A Measure of Recovery from Concussion , 1977, Perceptual and motor skills.