The aim of this study was to examine whether heart drawings of patients with acute myocardial infarction reflect acute distress symptoms and negative illness beliefs and predict posttraumatic stress symptoms 3 months post-myocardial infarction. In total, 84 patients aged over 18 years drew pictures of their heart. The larger the area drawn as damaged, the greater were the levels of acute distre...

Numerous multiple trauma and surgical patients suffer from accidental hypothermia. While induced hypothermia is commonly used in elective cardiac surgery due to its protective effects, accidental hypothermia is associated with increased posttraumatic complications and even mortality in severely injured patients. This paper focuses on protective molecular mechanisms of hypothermia on apoptosis a...

BACKGROUND Abnormally large cavum septum pellucidum has been reported in posttraumatic stress disorder; however, the origin of this association is uncertain. METHODS We utilized magnetic resonance imaging to measure cavum septum pellucidum in pairs of identical twins discordant for combat exposure in Vietnam. RESULTS Presence of abnormal cavum septum pellucidum was significantly correlated ...

This study examined the longitudinal course, over a 25-month period, of posttraumatic morbidity in a group of 469 firefighters exposed to a bushfire disaster. The patterns of posttraumatic morbidity were defined by the General Health Questionnaire. Contrary to expectation, an acute pattern of morbidity was less common than the delayed-onset or chronic forms. Predisaster variables were found to ...

Posttraumatic growth (PTG; positive change resulting from the struggle with trauma) was examined among children impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The revised Posttraumatic Growth Inventory for Children (PTGI-C-R) assessed PTG at two time points, 12 (T1) and 22 months (T2) posthurricane. The PTGI-C-R demonstrated good reliability. Analyses focused on trauma-related variables in predicting PTG. Chil...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans is frequently associated with a variety of complaints, including cognitive problems and posttraumatic stress disorder. In this study, the authors explored the predictive impact of premilitary cognitive abilities on postdeployment cognitive functioning, as mitigated by posttraumatic stress symptoms in a sample of veterans with and...

Posttraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is the most serious complication after fracture dislocation of the femoral head. The rate of this complication was reported to range from 1.7% to 40%. Although the development of posttraumatic osteonecrosis normally occurs within 2 years of injury, there are some reports of the late development ONFH. The authors encountered a case of posttr...

The authors describe a three-phase sequential integrative model for the psychotherapy of complex posttraumatic self-dysregulation: Phase 1 (alliance formation and stabilization), Phase 2 (trauma processing), and Phase 3 (functional reintegration). The technical precautions designed to maximize safety, trauma processing, and reintegration regardless of the specific treatment approach are discuss...

This is a retrospective analysis of the clinical and radiological outcome in 24 patients with acute or chronic posttraumatic elbow instability, who were treated with open reduction, internal fixation and a hinged external fixator. The instability was acute after elbow fracture dislocation in 11 cases; the other 13 had chronic posttraumatic instability of the elbow. Concentric stability and a su...

Main Outcome Measures: Health outcomes were assessed using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Child Health Questionnaire. Outcomes included the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder and scores on all Child Health Questionnaire subscales and global singleitem assessments. Results: Twenty percent of the minors had a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder and were more likely to hav...