Focal and Diffuse Brain Injury - Focal

Focal

A focal traumatic injury results from direct mechanical forces (such as occur when the head strikes a windshield in a vehicle accident) and is usually associated with brain tissue damage visible to the naked eye. A common cause of focal injury is penetrating head injury, in which the skull is perforated, as frequently occurs in auto accidents, blows, and gunshot wounds. Focal injuries typically have symptoms that are related to the damaged area of the brain. Stroke can produce focal damage that is associated with signs and symptoms that correspond to the part of the brain that was damaged. For example, if a speech center of the brain such as Broca's area is damaged, problems with speech are common.

Focal injuries include the following:

• Cerebral contusion is a bruise of brain tissue that commonly results from contact of the brain with the inside of the skull.
• Cerebral laceration is a brain injury in which the pia-arachnoid is torn.
• Epidural hemorrhage is bleeding between the dura mater and the skull. It is commonly associated with damage to the middle meningeal artery, often resulting from a skull fracture.
• Subdural hemorrhage is bleeding between the dura mater and the arachnoid.
• Intracerebral hemorrhage is bleeding within the brain tissue itself.
• Intraventricular hemorrhage is bleeding within the ventricles of the brain.