A group of 66 patients hospitalized for the treatment of closed head i
njury, were assessed for the presence of mood disorders during their h
ospital admission and at 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up. A total 28 pati
ents met DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for major depression at some ti
me during the study (17 in the acute stage, 11 during follow-up). The
mean duration of major depression was 4.7 months. However, there appea
red to be a group of transiently depressed patients (41%) who where de
pressed inhospital but were no longer depressed at 3 months follow-up.
Throughout the follow-up period, major depression showed a strong rel
ationship with poor social functioning. There was not, however, a cons
istent relationship between depression and quantitative measures of ei
ther physical or cognitive impairment. Location of the brain lesion wa
s associated with the development of major depression only in the acut
e stage. Transient depressive syndromes were associated with left dors
olateral frontal and/or left basal ganglia lesions.