Imaging Traumatic Brain Injury: New Developments

Unlike routine imaging, quantitative MRI is sensitive to some neuropathologic changes.

Results from routine brain imaging do not always correlate with the degree of deficits experienced by individuals with traumatic brain injury, especially those with mild injury. Two recent studies explore more-sensitive techniques for uncovering neuropathologic changes after TBI.

Investigators obtained quantitative MRIs on a 1.5-T scanner from 69 consecutive patients 1 year after being hospitalized for the injury. TBI severity ranged from mild to severe. Focal cortical contusions were seen in 11 patients with moderate TBI and in 12 patients with severe TBI. Evidence of diffuse axonal injury was seen in 51 patients with moderate-to-severe TBI (91%) and in 2 with mild TBI (15%). Compared with 12 healthy age- and sex-matched individuals, patien…

Reviewing Author

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience