Head injuries

Of 14,635 high-school sports injuries reported during the 2008-10 school years, 1,936 (13.2 percent) were concussions, according to an epidemiological study published in January in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. This was nearly twice the rate reported in earlier studies of high-school athletes.

ASPEN, Colo. -- The news, for Kevin Pearce, was all too familiar and horrifying.

A star in the halfpipe goes down hard during a training accident in Utah and is airlifted to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

But the stories diverge from there: Pearce's had a good ending. Sarah Burke's did not.

Two years removed from an amazing recovery after a training accident in Park City, Pearce is hanging out and doing some TV work at the Winter X Games this week -- games being played in honor of Burke, the freestyle skier whose accident in the same halfpipe led to her death last week.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke remained in critical condition Thursday after a successful operation to repair a tear to an artery that caused bleeding in her brain.

Doctors put her into a coma to relieve stress on her brain after her accident Tuesday, and she had surgery the next day.

"With injuries of this type, we need to observe the course of her brain function before making definitive pronouncements about Sarah's prognosis for recovery," said Dr. William Couldwell, the neurosurgeon who performed the operation, in a statement released by Burke's publicist. "Our neuro critical care team will be monitoring her condition and response continuously over the coming hours and days."

PLAIN CITY -- A Monday night car crash at 2584 N. 2000 West resulted in one man being transported to the hospital with moderate head injuries.

Newer isn't necessarily always better, even when it comes to football helmets. A study published online Friday in the Journal of Neurosurgery finds those vintage "leatherhead" helmets may protect as well as or better than modern ones when it comes to some typical helmet-on-helmet collisions that can lead to concussions.

OGDEN -- During times of stress, medical professionals see more cases of child abuse. For many people, money is the cause of much of that stress.