Temporary Cavitation in High-Velocity Pulmonary Missile Injury

Experiments performed at Edgewood Arsenal using high-speed photography and roentgenography document the phenomenon of temporary cavitation in lung parenchyma, which has not been demonstrated previously. This entity, which always occurs in high-velocity penetrating missile wounds, is different from the traumatic persistent cavity that may be a sequel to injury. Nonpenetrating high-velocity missile injury, blast injury, or even high-velocity impact injuries may also lead to permanent traumatic cavity formation.