The Contusion Index: A Reappraisal in Human and Experimental Non‐missile Head Injury

Abstract Adams J. H., Doyle D., Graham D. I., Lawrence A. E., McLellan D. R., Gennarelli T. A., Pastuszko M. that contusions may be entirely absent in a patient dying as a result of a head injury; that there is no correlation between the severity of contusions and the nature of the injury; that the concept of contrecoup must continue to be questioned; that contusions are more severe in patients who have a fracture of the skull in comparison to those who do not; that contusions are more severe in patients who do not experience a lucid interval than in those who do; and that contusions are less severe in patients with diffuse axonal injury than in those who do not have diffuse axonal injury. The distribution of contusions in subhuman primates is similar to that seen in man, and they occur more frequently with short duration than with long duration acceleration.