The Utility of Electroencephalography and Cerebral Computed Tomography in Children with Mild and Moderately Severe Closed Head Injuries

Abstract The utility of electroencephalography and computed tomography has been studied in a prospective follow-up study of 54 children with mild and moderately severe closed head injuries. EEG and CT scan were recorded in the acute phase. Furthermore the duration of coma and of post-traumatic amnesia were registrated. During a two years follow up period the presence of residual disorders in various faculties was evaluated at fixed time intervals after discharge. The data have been subjected to correlation analyses to study the relation of EEG and CT scan findings with the severity of the trauma and with the occurrence of long-term sequelae. Both the EEG and the CT scan abnormalities are found to correlate appreciably with the degree of severity and with the occurrence of, in particular, long-term sequelae in the fields of neurological disturbances and school performance. It is concluded that EEG and CT are useful diagnostic tools in children with mild and moderately severe closed head injuries. ABBREVIATIONS CHI: Closed head injuryCT: Computed tomographyEEG: ElectroencephalographyGOS: Glasgow Outcome ScoreMRI: Magnetic resonance imagingPTA: Post-traumatic amnesia