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Axonal injury: a universal consequence of fatal closed head injury?

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Abstract

β-Amyloid precursor protein immunostaining has recently been shown to be a reliable method for detecting the damage to axons associated with fatal head injury. In an attempt to compare the efficacy of this technique with conventional histological detection of axonal damage, we have reanalysed sections from a large well-characterised series of head-injured and control patients. The results indicate that the frequency of axonal injury has been vastly underestimated using conventional silver techniques, and that axonal injury may in fact be an almost universal consequence of fatal head injury.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, St Dunstan's Road, W6 8RP, London, UK

    S. M. Gentleman

  2. Department of Anatomy, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, St Dunstan's Road, W6 8RP, London, UK

    S. M. Gentleman

  3. Division of Molecular Neuropathology, Smith Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Harlow, Essex, UK

    G. W. Roberts

  4. Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    T. A. Gennarelli

  5. Department of Anatomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    W. L. Maxwell

  6. University Department of Neuropathology Institute of Neurological Sciences, Southern General Hospital, G51 4TF, Glasgow, UK

    J. H. Adams, S. Kerr & D. I. Graham

Authors
  1. S. M. Gentleman
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  2. G. W. Roberts
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  3. T. A. Gennarelli
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  4. W. L. Maxwell
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  5. J. H. Adams
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  6. S. Kerr
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  7. D. I. Graham
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Gentleman, S.M., Roberts, G.W., Gennarelli, T.A. et al. Axonal injury: a universal consequence of fatal closed head injury?. Acta Neuropathol 89, 537–543 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00571509

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00571509

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