Abstract
Worldwide, the ocurrence of acute subdural hematomas (ASDHs) in road traffic crashes is a major public health problem. ASDHs are usually produced by loss of structural integrity of one of the cerebral bridging veins (CBVs) linking the parasagittal sinus to the brain. Therefore, to assess the risk of ASDH it is important to know the mechanical conditions to which the CBVs are subjected during a potentially traumatic event (such as a traffic accident or a fall from height). Recently, new studies on CBVs have been published allowing much more accurate prediction of the likelihood of mechanical failure of CBVs. These new data can be used to propose new damage metrics, which make more accurate predictions about the probability of occurrence of ASDH in road crashes. This would allow a better assessement of the effects of passive safety countermeasures and, consequently, to improve vehicle restraint systems. Currently, some widely used damage metrics are based on partially obsolete data and measurements of the mechanical behavior of CBVs that have not been confirmed by subsequent studies. This paper proposes a revision of some existing metrics and constructs a new metric based on more accurate recent data on the mechanical failure of human CBVs.
Highlights
Road traffic crashes and their sequelae are a major problem of Public Health [1]
One of the most common severe types of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) is acute subdural hematoma (ASDH), caused by rupture of blood vessels connecting the sagittal sinus to the brain [4]
The usual approach of automotive industry based on injury metrics seems well founded from a theoretical point of view, it should make use of most recent data on the mechanical properties of cerebral bridging veins (CBVs), because the measurements in more modern tests are more accurate
Summary
Road traffic crashes and their sequelae are a major problem of Public Health [1]. Every year more than one million people pass away in road traffic collisions and, worldwide, about ten million people are injured or disabled by these traumatic events [2]. The incidence of ASDH in all non-missile head injuries ranges from 26% to 63% [5,6], and the mortality rate ranges from 30% to 90% [7]. These figures suggest that road crashes cause some 16 million events with subdural hematoma, 1.25 million being severe cases. Due to these figures, it can be concluded that ASDH represents an important part of the Public Health problem of road traffic crashes
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.