Question

Case Scenario: A teenage baseball player gets hit in the head with a fast- hard ball. Paramedics rush him to the hospital. Upon arrival to the ED, you find he is disoriented, he has sporadic respiratory changes, and his pupils are dilated but respond to light. He can tell you his name but not what has happened. During the exam, he vacillates between being somnolent and hyper aroused. The doctor tells parents of the boy that their child has a focal brain injury. He has no prior health conditions.

1. Question: Differentiate between a focal brain injury and diffuse axonal injury.

Case Scenario: A 45-year-old woman presents with a drooping left eye, has fallen four times in the last month, and complains of weakness in her neck such that at times “it feels like my head is so heavy.” She has no prior health problems and has played tennis since she was a teen. She has no children and is married. She states her marriage is strong and they have an active church life. In the last six months, she has had multiple bouts of pneumonia that appear to resolve with antibiotics.

2. Question: Describe to the patient what the doctor is looking for. What information would be helpful to know from this patient’s history to complete a diagnosis?

Answer 1

Answer: The major difference between the diffuse axonal injury and focal brain injury is that the diffuse axonal injury effects the whole brain and it can not be detected through the brain Imaging Or mapping. The focal brain injury occurs and effects particular prt of the brain and can be easily detectable through brain imaging such as MRI.

The doctor is looking for the symptoms that could be result of the head injury as the patient explained that she had fallen four times so any kind of bone fracture or the dislocation occurs.

It is important to know the medical history of the patient as she sufders any kind of confusion or low memory power or if she has undergone any surgery.