Combining Clinical Neuroimaging and Real-World Impact Data to Investigate Motor Vehicle Crash-Related Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year, with motor vehicle crash (MVC) representing the leading cause for hospitalization. Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is the most common AIS 3+ injury resulting from MVC-related trauma. Little is known, however, about the relationship between specific crash parameters and resulting intracranial trauma. Yoganandan et al performed a study of 132 occupants with severe-to-fatal head injuries, showing that direct contact loading of the head results in a high percentage of occupants with brain injury with the most frequent contact being the pillars[1]. A study by Morris et al showed almost one-quarter of severe head injuries occur due to contact with an interior vehicle structure. Additionally, injuries that are more diffuse in nature occur with an interior contact within the vehicle[2]. In this study, SAH volume in addition to total injured volume of the brain was analyzed in order to better understand occupant injury, with the hypothesis that these traumatic neuroimaging findings would correlate with specific crash parameters.