Severe Diffuse Axonal Injury – Potentially Fatal Trauma

Severe Diffuse Axonal Injury Causes Most Severe Coma

By Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

Despite Severe Diffuse Axonal Injury being one of the worst brain injuries, it may not even appear on a CT scan.

Severe Diffuse Axonal Injury is being better recognized by the medical community. However, much of the conversation revolves around mild brain injury. In context of severe brain injury, DAI results in coma and is called Type Three Diffuse Axonal Injury. This is where shear forces tear the brain apart at its roots, the axonal tracts.

Axonal tracts are collections of axons that connect the gray and white matter. Axonal tracts of myelinated neurons make up the white matter. White matter axons are covered with white insulation, the myelin sheath.

Perhaps the most important axonal tract connects the right and left hemispheres and is called the corpus callosum.

The DAIs are classified as Type One through type Three. Even though Type Three is the worst, possibly resulting in death, it will not always display on the CT scan. Most brain injuries that involve immediate coma involve severe DAI.

Gordon Johnson

Attorney Gordon Johnson is one of the nations leading brain injury advocates. He is Past-Chair of the TBILG, a national group of more than 150 brain injury advocates. He has spoken at numerous brain injury seminars and is the author of some of the most read brain injury web pages on the internet.

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