PURPOSE: Penetrating gunshot wounds to the head (GSWH) have notoriously poor outcomes with extremely high mortality. Long-term follow-up data of affected children is scant in the medical literature. This report summarizes clinical presentation, management, and long-term outcomes from three children who survived "execution style" frontal, bihemispheric gunshot wounds with no or minimal surgical intervention. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of available medical records and outcomes from standardized, validated psychological instruments was undertaken, summarized, and evaluated. RESULTS: Despite bihemispheric injuries in each patient, no patient required operative intervention. Each child survived without readily evident neurologic impairment; however, the extent of impaired executive function varied widely, and severe disinhibition remains profoundly disabling in one survivor. CONCLUSIONS: Bihemispheric penetrating gunshot injuries are not uniformly fatal and can occasionally be associated with long-term favorable survival; however, impaired executive function has significant potential to be profoundly disabling in these injuries.
PURPOSE: Penetrating gunshot wounds to the head (GSWH) have notoriously poor outcomes with extremely high mortality. Long-term follow-up data of affected children is scant in the medical literature. This report summarizes clinical presentation, management, and long-term outcomes from three children who survived "execution style" frontal, bihemispheric gunshot wounds with no or minimal surgical intervention. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of available medical records and outcomes from standardized, validated psychological instruments was undertaken, summarized, and evaluated. RESULTS: Despite bihemispheric injuries in each patient, no patient required operative intervention. Each child survived without readily evident neurologic impairment; however, the extent of impaired executive function varied widely, and severe disinhibition remains profoundly disabling in one survivor. CONCLUSIONS: Bihemispheric penetrating gunshot injuries are not uniformly fatal and can occasionally be associated with long-term favorable survival; however, impaired executive function has significant potential to be profoundly disabling in these injuries.
Authors: S Kathleen Bandt; Jacob K Greenberg; Chester K Yarbrough; Kenneth B Schechtman; David D Limbrick; Jeffrey R Leonard Journal: J Neurosurg Pediatr Date: 2012-09-28 Impact factor: 2.375
Authors: Adil H Haider; Joseph G Crompton; Tolulope Oyetunji; Donald Risucci; Stephen DiRusso; Hatice Basdag; Cassandra V Villegas; Zain U Syed; Elliott R Haut; David T Efron Journal: J Pediatr Surg Date: 2011-08 Impact factor: 2.545
Authors: James S Davis; Diego M Castilla; Carl I Schulman; Eduardo A Perez; Holly L Neville; Juan E Sola Journal: J Surg Res Date: 2013-01-19 Impact factor: 2.192