Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the value of MRI diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on diagnosis of traumatic brain injury(TBI). Methods Twenty two patients with TBI 1 to 7 days post-injury and 14 healthy controls were studied with DTI and conventional MRI. The fractional anisotropy (FA) was quantified from different regions of interest (ROI) including the genu of corpus callosum (CC), the splenium of CC, the genu of internal capsule (IC) and the posterior limb of IC bilaterally. The FA value of the same ROI was compared between TBI group and control group, and FA value of the lesion side was compared with the mirror healthy side in TBI group. Correlations between the FA and Glasgow coma scale (GCS) in TBI patients were analyzed with Pearson linear correlation. Results Compared with control group, the FA value decreased significantly in each ROI (P<0.01). Compared with the healthy side, FA value was also significantly lower in lesion side in TBI group (P<0.01). The FA value in all the sites were not correlated with GCS in TBI group (P>0.01). Conclusion DTI is sensitive for detecting the acute traumatic injury of white matter and evaluate the degree of injury. It offers the possibility to diagnose TBI earlier and accurately.

Key words: traumatic brain injury, diffusion tensor imaging, white matter, magnetic resonance imaging