The Early Pneumoencephalographic Findings Following Penetrating Wounds of the Brain

Abstract

Neurological sequelae which are the result of penetrating wounds of the brain may call for pneumoencephalography at various periods after the initial injury. This report is based upon studies made upon patients during postoperative care while in the theater of operations. Roentgen examination was done, as a rule, in an attempt to assist in the diagnosis or localization of subdural hematomata or complicating brain abscesses when clinical studies alone were inconclusive. The purpose of this presentation is to record the degree and rapidity with which hydrodynamic effects are manifested in the ventricular system. Such observations may aid in the evaluation of the roentgen findings in later periods of convalescence, or in the explanation of late neurologic sequelae. Material The 23 pneumoencephalographic studies reported were made during the care of 256 patients with penetrating cranial wounds at the 36th General Hospital, in the European theater. Dural penetrations occurred in 206 of this group. The majority...