Traumatic Brain Injury : Methods for Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychiatric Assessment,Third Edition

The number of traumatic head injuries that occur on a yearly basis has risen to more than three million, producing considerable morbidity and death. This text provides physicians and psychologists with a neuropsychiatric schema for the evaluation of a patient who has sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). It assists clinicians in developing a treatment plan and provides data for forensic neuropsychiatric evaluations. The methods in this book can be used to evaluate and treat any neuropsychiatric disorder when accompanied by appropriate laboratory studies and treatments specific to the pathology.

Traumatic Brain Injury: Methods for Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychiatric Assessment, Third Edition provides physicians and psychologists with a scientifically based schema for the clinical evaluation of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The book assists physicians and psychologists in developing treatment plans for patients who have sustained TBIs and also guides those providing forensic analysis to lawyers, insurance bodies, workers’ compensation systems, triers of fact, and other stakeholders in the adjudication of victims of TBI.

The procedures and recommendations in this book are grounded in highly referenced evidence-based science but also come from more than 5000 cases wherein the author and contributors have personally examined individuals who have sustained a TBI, or who claim to have sustained a TBI.

This edition has been entirely rewritten. The style now follows a more traditional neuropsychiatric format than previous editions. Since the last edition, there has been increased awareness and scientific study regarding the effects of blast brain injury as a consequence of US military experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There is also increased interest in the phenomenology of mild traumatic brain injury and, in particular, the forensic complications associated with evaluations of this disorder. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy has also received significant scrutiny in the last decade, possibly associated with sports injuries.

This book is a comprehensive resource for clinicians treating patients as well as for forensic specialists. Its purpose remains the same as in prior editions—to provide physicians or psychologists with a practical method for an effective evaluation of TBI based upon known scientific principles of brain-behavior relationships and state-of-the-art clinical, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and psychological techniques.