Selected cases of poor outcome following a minor brain trauma: comparing neuropsychological and positron emission tomography assessment.
Neuropsychological residua are common particularly in the early stages following a minor traumatic brain injury (TBI), however, a minority of individuals complain of persistent deficits following months or years post-accident. Nine such cases are presented with little or no evidence of brain damage demonstrated according to non-functional neuroimaging (for example CT, MRI), yet their neuropsychological examinations were positive. Since the introduction of positron emission tomography (PET), which captures a functional approach, the question arose as to what extent the two techniques (i.e. PET and neuropsychological examination) are interrelated. All nine minor TBI cases revealed a corroboration between the positive neuropsychological findings confirmed on the PET. The PET procedure documented neuropathology which frequently was pronounced in the frontal and anteriotemporo-frontal regions. Moreover, no significant differences were evident between those five cases with reported loss of consciousness vs. those four cases without.
Ruff
R M
RM
University of California, San Francisco.
Crouch
J A
JA
Tröster
A I
AI
Marshall
L F
LF
Buchsbaum
M S
MS
Lottenberg
S
S
Somers
L M
LM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed