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THIS STUDY EXAMINED ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and edema formation bilaterally in brain cortices and hippocampi after lateral controlled cortical‐impact injury in rats. To measure the activity of ODC, the brains of injured and control rats were frozen in situ at 30 minutes and at 6, 24, and 72 hours after controlled cortical‐ impact injury of moderate severity. The specific gravity of these regions was examined in decapitated animals at corresponding time points as an indicator of edema formation. Thirty minutes after injury, ODC activity did not increase in the injury‐site cortex and ipsilateral hippocampus. At 6 hours after injury, ODC activity had increase