Expanded Denver Criteria (BCVI screening)

Denver blunt-cerebrovascular-injury screening criteria: whether any sign or risk factor is present that warrants CT-angiography screening for BCVI.

Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.

Example

Expanding cervical hematoma
Yes

Result: 1 criterion positive (Expanding cervical hematoma): CT angiography screening for BCVI is indicated.

The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.

What you enter

  • Arterial hemorrhage from neck/nose/mouth
  • Cervical bruit (age < 50)
  • Expanding cervical hematoma
  • Focal neurologic deficit
  • Neurologic deficit incongruous with CT
  • Stroke on CT/MRI
  • Le Fort II or III fracture
  • Cervical-spine fracture
The other 4 fields
  • Basilar skull fracture involving the carotid canal
  • Diffuse axonal injury with GCS < 6
  • Near-hanging with anoxic brain injury
  • Seatbelt sign / soft-tissue neck injury
How this is calculated
Rule
CT angiography screening for blunt cerebrovascular injury is indicated if ANY sign/symptom or high-energy-mechanism risk factor is present.
Items
6 signs/symptoms (hemorrhage, bruit < 50, expanding hematoma, focal deficit, exam-CT mismatch, stroke) plus 6 risk factors (LeFort, cervical-spine, carotid-canal, DAI, near-hanging, seatbelt).

Burlew CC, Biffl WL, Moore EE, Barnett CC, Johnson JL, Bensard DD. Blunt cerebrovascular injuries: redefining screening criteria in the era of noninvasive diagnosis. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012;72(2):330-337. Read the source ↗

A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.

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Built by Clay Good. Source on GitHub.