title: Day-of-injury CT as an index to pre-injury brain morphology: degree of post-injury degenerative changes identified by CT and MR neuroimaging.
abstract: A detailed case study is presented in which pre-injury CT scan findings are compared and contrasted with post-injury CT and MR results in a case of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The day-of-injury scan represented an adequate estimate of pre-injury morphological status based on cross-sectional area measurements of the ventricular system. By comparing pre-injury CT measurements with those obtained on the day of injury, 2 days post-injury and 16 months post-injury via assessing cross-sectional area of select ventricular regions (e.g. anterior and temporal horns, body and third ventricle) it was demonstrated that the TBI induced over a 50% ventricular expansion. Such ventricular expansions are felt to provide some index into diffuse axonal injury which may provide a means of eventually quantifying the degree of structural damage secondary to TBI. This analysis also demonstrated that there were no significant differences between selected cross-sectional ventricular areas in the 15 day and 16 month post-injury MR scans. This finding suggests that the degenerative effects of TBI have a rapid onset and are becoming readily apparent by 15 days post-injury. Thus, early imaging may provide a good index of long-term morphological outcome in TBI.
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602.
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Bigler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurth
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blatter
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abildskov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000175:diagnosis; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed