PENETRATING INJURIES IN THE VIETNAM-WAR - TRAUMATIC UNCONSCIOUSNESS, EPILEPSY, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOME

The WF Caveness Vietnam Head Injury Study includes over a thousand men who survived penetrating head injuries during the Vietnam War and on whom detailed medical and follow-up data are available. This populatio n offers unique opportunities for the study of recovery from brain inj ury and of brain structure-function relationships. The authors briefly review long-term outcome in this cohort with respect to traumatic unc onsciousness, posttraumatic epilepsy, and elements of psychologic and psychosocial function, including returning to work.