Traumatic Head Injury in Children

Head trauma in children is a major public health problem. A leading causeof death, it also results in a spectrum of morbidity involving cognition,academic achievement, and social interaction. A primary goal of this book is toexplore sources of unexplained variability in outcome. One important source ofvariability is the developmental stage. Children are evolving organisms forwhom a static conceptualization of outcome may misconstrue the effects oftraumatic brain injury. For clinicians, this volume will provide easy accessinto the mainstream of research on traumatic brain injury in children, itspathophysiology, treatment, and outcome. For scientists specializing incognition and development, and for those in the basic neurosciences, the studiesof traumatic brain injury discussed in this book provide a unique opportunity torelate brain structure to patterns of behaviour. Modern neurodiagnostictechniques have created new possibilities for understanding the neurologicalbasis of the diverse behavioural deficits shown by head-injured children. Thecontributors to this volume have not only presented detailed analyses of ourpresent state of knowledge of the diverse determinants of outcome in childrenwith head injury, but they have also emphasized the gaps and limitation in ourknowledge.

Foreword, M.B. Denckia Part I: The Issues 1. Variability in Outcomes after Traumatic Brain Injury in Children: A Developmental Perspective, J.M. Fletcher, L. Ewing-Cobbs, D.J. Francis and H.S. Levin 2. Epidemiological Features of Brain Injury in Children: Occurrence, Children at Risk, Causes and Manner of Injury, Severity, and Outcomes, J.F. Kraus 3. Pathophysiological Responses of the Child's Brain Following Trauma, D.Bruce Part II: The Data 4. The Behavioral Sequelae of Serious Head Injury in Children and Adolescents: The British Studies, D.Shaffer 5. Neurobehavioral Outcome of Pediatric Closed Head Injury, H.S. Levin, L. Ewing-Cobbs and H.M. Eisenberg 6. Discourse as an Outcome Measure in Pediatric Head Injured populations, S.B. Chapman 7. The UCLA Study of Mild Closed Injury in Children and Adolescents, R.F. Asarnow, P. Satz, R. Light, K. Zaucha, R.Lewis, and C. McCleary 8. Cognitive, Behavioral and Motoric Sequelae of Mild Head Injury in a National Birth Cohort, P. Bijur, and M. Haslum 9. Attention Deficits in the Long Term after Childhood Head Injury, M. Dennis, M. Wilkinson, L. Koski and R.P. Humphreys 10. Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury in Children: The Importance of the Family, G. Taylor, D. Drotar, S. Wade, K. Yeats, T. Stancin and S. Klein Part III: Life Span Effects, Rehabilitation and Treatment 11. Outcome of Head Injuries from Childhood to Adulthood: A 23 Year Follow-Up Study, H. Klonoff, C. Clark, P.S. Klonoff 12. Recovery of Function in Adults: Lessons for the Study of Pediatric Head injury outcome, J. Grafman and A. Salazer 13. Evaluating Rehabilitation after Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, L.J. Michaud 14. The Prospect of Pediatric Clinical Trials: Experience with Adult Trials, J.D. Ward Part IV: Commentary 15. Implications for Clinical Care and Cognitive Neuroscience 16. A summing Up, A. Benton