title: Minor and repetitive head injury.
abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability in the young, active population and expected to be the third leading cause of death in the whole world until 2020. The disease is frequently referred to as the silent epidemic, and many authors highlight the "unmet medical need" associated with TBI.The term traumatically evoked brain injury covers a heterogeneous group ranging from mild/minor/minimal to severe/non-salvageable damages. Severe TBI has long been recognized to be a major socioeconomical health-care issue as saving young lives and sometimes entirely restituting health with a timely intervention can indeed be extremely cost efficient.Recently it has been recognized that mild or minor TBI should be considered similarly important because of the magnitude of the patient population affected. Other reasons behind this recognition are the association of mild head injury with transient cognitive disturbances as well as long-term sequelae primarily linked to repeat (sport-related) injuries.The incidence of TBI in developed countries can be as high as 2-300/100,000 inhabitants; however, if we consider the injury pyramid, it turns out that severe and moderate TBI represents only 25-30 % of all cases, while the overwhelming majority of TBI cases consists of mild head injury. On top of that, or at the base of the pyramid, are the cases that never show up at the ER - the unreported injuries.Special attention is turned to mild TBI as in recent military conflicts it is recognized as "signature injury."This chapter aims to summarize the most important features of mild and repetitive traumatic brain injury providing definitions, stratifications, and triage options while also focusing on contemporary knowledge gathered by imaging and biomarker research.Mild traumatic brain injury is an enigmatic lesion; the classification, significance, and its consequences are all far less defined and explored than in more severe forms of brain injury.Understanding the pathobiology and pathomechanisms may aid a more targeted approach in triage as well as selection of cases with possible late complications while also identifying the target patient population where preventive measures and therapeutic tools should be applied in an attempt to avoid secondary brain injury and late complications.
authors.affiliation: MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pecs, Hungary, 2saturn@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andras
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buki
authors.forename: Noemi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.forename: Endre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Czeiter
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Rachel P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Firas
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kobeissy
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Italiano
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Tortella
authors.forename: Emese
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mezosi
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwarcz
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toth
authors.forename: Orsolya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nemes
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mondello
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D012307:Risk Factors