[Microscopic assessment of cerebral edema in fatal traumatic brain injury during the first hour of the post-traumatic period].

OBJECTIVE To study the diagnostic histological signs of cerebral edema in traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the post-traumatic period up to 1 hour.

MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of archival materials from forensic medical examinations was conducted, and brain fragments from corpses of people who died from TBI within 1 hour after the injury were examined using the IHC method.

RESULTS The revealed histological changes represent a set of signs of traumatic vascular injury, blood-brain barrier, neurons, astrocytes and their irreversible changes in the foci of traumatic hemorrhages. The presence of cytotoxic (swelling of cells) in the penumbra area with initial symptoms of vasogenic edema cannot be considered as a morphological substrate of cerebral edema, determining the immediate cause of death.

CONCLUSIONS To determine the cause of death, it is necessary to conduct a targeted study of the brain to search for traumatic hemorrhages in vital brain centers and irreversible changes in them, using modern original methods of sectional examination.