Emotional disorders are a common outcome from mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in humans, but their pathophysiological basis is poorly understood. We have developed a mouse model of closed-head blast injury using an air pressure wave delivered to a small area on one side of the cranium, to create mild TBI. We found that 20-psi blasts in 3-month-old C57BL/6 male mice yielded no obvious behavior...

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury has dramatically increased in combat troops in today's military operations. We previously reported that antioxidant treatment can provide protection to the peripheral auditory end organ, the cochlea. In the present study, we examined biomarker expression in the brains of rats at different time points (3 hours to 21 days) after three successive 14 psi blast o...

The incidence of blast attacks and resulting traumatic brain injuries has been on the rise in recent years. Primary blast is one of the mechanisms in which the blast wave can cause injury to the brain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a single sub-lethal blast over pressure (BOP) exposure of either 48.9 kPa (7.1 psi) or 77.3 kPa (11.3 psi) to rodents in an open-field sett...

The research presented in this thesis investigates eye injuries caused by blunt impacts and blast overpressure. This research represents part of an ongoing investigation to accurately quantify and predict eye injuries and injury mechanisms for various loading schemes. It has been shown that blunt trauma can cause severe eye injuries but it remains undecided whether blast overpressure alone can ...

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE A volumetric blood surge (rapid physical movement/displacement of blood) is hypothesized to cause the non-impact, mild TBI and battlefield PTSD induced by a blast over-pressure wave. RESEARCH DESIGN Systematic review of the literature. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Articles relating to the fields of blast injury, brain injury and relevant disorders were searched between the years...

Primary blast injury (PBI) is the general term that refers to injuries resulting from the mere interaction of a blast wave with the body. Although few instances of primary ocular blast injury, without a concomitant secondary blast injury from debris, are documented, some experimental studies demonstrate its occurrence. In order to investigate PBI to the eye, a finite element model of the human ...

The role of primary blast in blast-induced TBI is controversial. The identification of well documented clinical cases is difficult and rare, while the technical difficulties associated with simulating primary blast in the laboratory are considerable, resulting in an inconsistent literature that is difficult to interpret. This laboratory initiated a multidisciplinary effort in order to understan...

Studies of traumatic brain injury from all causes have found evidence of chronic hypopituitarism, defined by deficient production of one or more pituitary hormones at least 1 year after injury, in 25-50% of cases. Most studies found the occurrence of posttraumatic hypopituitarism (PTHP) to be unrelated to injury severity. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and hypogonadism were reported most frequ...

Primary blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) is a prevalent battlefield injury in recent conflicts, yet biomechanical mechanisms of bTBI remain unclear. Elucidating specific biomechanical mechanisms is essential to developing animal models for testing candidate therapies and for improving protective equipment. Three hypothetical mechanisms of primary bTBI have received the most attention...

Lung injuries, predominantly arising from blast exposure, are a clinical problem in a significant minority of current military casualties. This special feature consists of a series of articles on lung injury. This first article examines the mechanism of the response to blast lung (primary blast injury to the lung). Subsequent articles examine the incidence of blast lung, clinical consequences a...