Figure 12

Blast-induced lesion that follows a vascular fault line and is associated with microscopic evidence of hemorrhage. Shown are H&E-stained sections (A-C) from the brain of a 3×−acute exposure animal. A blast-induced discontinuity in the cortical layers is apparent at the junction between layers I and II that follows the fault line of a penetrating cortical vessel (arrows) in the auditory cortex (A) disrupting the external capsule and extending into the hippocampus (B). An area of hemorrhage with parenchymal infiltration of erythrocytes (arrows) is visible in panel (C). Disruption of myelinated fibers in the external capsule was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining with an anti-CNPase antibody (D). Scale bar: 200 μm, A, B; 100 μm, C; 400 μm, D.