Dilemmas concerning the diffuse axonal injury as a clinicopathological entity in forensic medical practice

Abstract

Dilemmas and discussions concerning the diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and still existing in forensic medical practice are as it follows: 1. Whether the occurrence of DAI can indicate the type of traumatic event that has caused the head trauma, 2. Whether the presence of axonal damage in cases of hypoxia, ischaemia and other pathological conditions casts a shadow on the post-mortem pathological diagnosis of DAI and totally negates it, or there are certain clues in the findings that can point to the aetiology of the axonal damage. This paper discusses our findings based on neuropathological examination of 60 forensic cases of closed head injury. The neuropathological examination included: a macroscopic examination of the coronal sections and a microscopic examination involving an immunohistochemical method with antibody against β-amyloid precursor protein. Our findings indicate that DAI, as a clinicopathological entity, is undoubtedly an acceleration–deceleration injury, predominant in road traffic accidents as it is classically outlined, and cases of falling from a considerable height. Our findings point to a certain difference between the features of traumatic and ischaemic axonal damage. In this paper we also investigate the correlation between pathological grades of DAI and the impairment of the brain function before death.