Primary objective: The aetiology of the increased osteogenesis associated with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains incompletely understood. The purpose of this article is to review the available evidence regarding the release of osteogenic humoral factors after TBI.
Research design: This study is presented in the form of a literature review.
Methods and procedures: To obtain suitable references, Pubmed was searched using keywords 'heterotopic ossification', 'brain', 'trauma', 'injury', 'aetiology'.
Main outcomes and results: Evidence from both clinical and laboratory investigations points to centrally released osteogenic factor(s) that enter the systemic circulation following TBI.
Conclusions: Further investigation into the identification of these putative osteogenic factor(s), using human tissues and new techniques, is indicated to better understand this phenomenon.