OBJECTIVE: Brain atrophy and brain herniation are gaining a lot of attention separately, but a limited amount of studies connected them together, and because of this, we are going to review and examine the subject in the current meta-analysis. METHODS: The authors collected data reporting brain atrophy of alcoholic and schizophrenic cause, as well as data on control patients, all of which was published on MEDLINE between 1996 and 2018. The included 11 articles were processed with a statistical program. RESULTS: We found that the pericerebral space is unequal among the groups, while the intracranial volume is strongly correlated to the biggest foramen of the body. The effect of this inequality, however, is expressed in emergency cases, where the patients with brain atrophy will have more time before the final stage of brain herniation CONCLUSION: The current study raises a controversial issue that requires careful investigation and high attention from the health care personnel.
Alcoholics ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Delivery of Health Care ; Emergencies ; Foramen Magnum ; Humans ; Research Design ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Ticks

OBJECTIVE: Penetrating brain trauma (PBT) caused by gunshot is one of the most lethal traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and its management and confrontation is of great importance. METHODS: The authors searched retrospectively the archives from 2 similar autonomous laboratories of forensic science and toxicology in the Balkan peninsula for a 10-year period of time and included only fatal penetrating brain injuries. RESULTS: The study is conducted in 61 cadavers with gunshot PBT. All of the cadavers were victims of suicide attempt. The most common anatomical localization on the skull were the facial bones, followed by skull base, temporal and parietal bone, conducting a trajectory of the gunshot. Additional findings were atherosclerosis of the blood vessels and chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and fatty liver. CONCLUSION: PBI has a high mortality rate. There are factors and findings from the collected data differing between the 2 aforementioned nations. Either way, better preventative measures, gun control and healthcare system are highly necessary.
Atherosclerosis ; Balkan Peninsula ; Blood Vessels ; Brain Injuries ; Brain ; Bulgaria ; Cadaver ; Chronic Disease ; Delivery of Health Care ; Ethnic Groups ; Facial Bones ; Fatty Liver ; Forensic Sciences ; Greece ; Head Injuries, Penetrating ; Humans ; Mortality ; Parietal Bone ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Retrospective Studies ; Skull ; Skull Base ; Suicide ; Toxicology ; Wounds, Gunshot

Objective: Brain trauma is an extremely important economical and social issue with increasing daily incidence. It is important to observe and report brain trauma, in order to provide better conditions for improvement of the trauma prevention and management. Methods: A ten-year retrospective observational analysis was performed on 292 (fatal and non-fatal) incidents of traumatic brain injury among 2,847 totally examined cases in the records of the laboratory of forensic sciences at Democritus University of Thrace between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2016. The results were further analyzed and classified into pertinent categories associated with the purpose of the study. Results: The average age was estimated at 47.24 years with an obvious male domination.The most common cause of TBI, according to the results, is transport accidents (61.85%) followed by trauma inflicted by blunt instrument (22.49%), fall from height (11.65%) and occupational accidents (4.02%). Mortality rates were evaluated for each type, revealing extremely disturbing numbers. Regarding the anatomical localization on the skull, the most common region of cranial fractures is the cranial base (16.48%), followed by the frontal (12.87%), occipital (11.29%) and parietal bones (11.06%). In the majority of the cases, there were associated injuries. Conclusion The management of traumatic brain injuries is difficult and sometimes impossible. Better prevention measures are required to minimize as much as possible the incidence of brain trauma.