HEAD TRAUMA AND LEUKOCYTOSIS

A prospective analysis of 153 cases of head trauma was conducted with respect to their white blood cell counts. A white blood cell count exc eeding 20 x 10(6)/l is associated with a poor clinical grade on admiss ion and with a 96% mortality as opposed to that of a 23% mortality for those with slightly lower or slightly above normal white blood cell c ount. The sensitivity for this level is a mortality of 96% while the s pecificity is 77%.