Occult cerebrovascular injury in brain injured patients

Background and purpose: Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is a possible complication of head injury. BCVI can result in dissection, thrombosis, occlusion, and to the formation of pseudoaneuryms. Cerebral ischemia is a frightened consequence. Whereas in older reports the disorder was regarded as rare, recent studies report a much higher BCVI incidence of >1% among blunt trauma patients. There are no standardized recommendations for screening. All previous studies were performed primarily in the acute stage. The aim of our study was to investigate the frequency of undiagnosed BCVI by means of cervical ultrasound…