Neuropsychological evaluation ofmildheadinjury

SUMMARY Neuropsychological deficits following mildheadinjury havebeenreportedrecently inthe literature. The purpose ofthis study was to investigate this issue with a strict methodologicalapproach.Theneuropsychological performanceof50mildlyheadinjuredpatients was comparedwith that of 50normal controls chosen with the case-control approach. Noconclusive evidence was found that mild head injury causes cognitive impairment one month after the trauma. Effectsofheadinjuryonmentalfunctionshave usu- ally been studied in patients with severe trauma.Studiesontheconsequencesofmildinjuryaremuchrarer, in spite of the fact that these patients fre-quentlycomplainofdifficulties in concentration andmemoryand poor intellectual efficiency.Gronwall and Wrightson' found reduced effi- ciency in 10 patients with mild head trauma andsubjective post-concussion syndromeas revealed bythePASATtest (whichrequiresthepatient to sumaseries ofnumbersgiven at a rapid rate) in compari- sonto theperformanceofa patientgroupwithheadinjuryofthe samedegreebutwithoutthesubjectivesyndrome.AlteredPASATscoreswerefoundin theinitial phase, and