title: Challenges of diffuse axonal injury diagnosis.
abstract: "This can't be right. Jay is in a vegetative state following a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), but his computed tomography scan is essentially normal. How am I going to explain this to his mom?" This is a conversation I overhear among my rehabilitation nurse colleagues from time to time. Jay has a type of brain trauma called diffuse axonal injury (DAI). Recent statistics from the National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC, 2006) indicate 1.4 million people sustain a TBI each year in the United States. The leading causes of TBI are falls (28%), motor vehicle accidents (20%), being struck by or against an object (19%), and assaults (11%; NCIPC). DAI, one of the most important causes of cognitive dysfunction after TBI (Sugiyama et al., 2007), occurs in a more widespread pattern in certain regions of the brain than the localized zone of focal injuries. It is one of the most devastating forms of TBI and a common cause of vegetative state and severe disability. DAI occurs in 40%-50% of all patients who are hospitalized from TBI (Meythaler, Peduzzi, Eleftheriou, & Novack, 2001).
authors.affiliation: Shepherd Center, Atlanta, GA, USA. margaret_thomas@shepherd.org
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dufour
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing / Q000534:rehabilitation; D020833:Diffuse Axonal Injury / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D019145:Rehabilitation Nursing / Q000379:methods*