NEUROLOGY AND NEUROPATHOLOGY OF SOMAN-INDUCED BRAIN INJURY - AN OVERVIEW

Battlefield use of nerve agents poses serious medical threats to comba t troops and to civilians in the immediate or adjacent environment. Th e experiments reported herein were carried out in the 1980s to help to define both the neurological and neuropathological consequences of ex posure to the organophosphate nerve agent Soman. These data contribute d to the scientific foundation for a program of drug development to fi nd agents that would prevent or reduce the risk of injury to the centr al nervous system and specifically pointed to the importance of includ ing an anticonvulsant in the treatment of agent exposure. Since these experiments were conducted, research efforts have continued to improve pretreatment and treatment, such as the inclusion of the anticonvulsa nt diazepam in the medical treatment of exposed personnel.