Mortality Following Penetrating Craniocerebral Injuries: an Analysis of the Deaths in the Vietnam Head Injury Registry Population

A population of 1127 men with penetrating craniocerebral injuries who were alive 1 week after their injuries were followed up for 15 years. During this time, 90 deaths occurred. Most deaths occurred early in the first year after injury & resulted from the effects of the injury or the sequelae of coma. There were some deaths by suicide, but there was not an excess of mortality due to suicide. (16 refs.)