title: Long-term recovery of motor function in a quadriplegic patient with diffuse axonal injury and traumatic hemorrhage: a case report.
abstract: There have been no studies on motor recovery in severe quadriplegic patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from combined causes of weakness; this type of patient is often seen in rehabilitation clinics. We report on a quadriplegic patient who showed long-term motor recovery from severe weakness caused by a diffuse axonal injury (DAI) on the brainstem and a traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) on left cerebral peduncle, as evaluated by diffuse tensor imaging (DTI) and functional MRI (fMRI). A 17-year-old male patient presented with quadriparesis at the onset of TBI. Over the 28-month period following the onset of the injury, the motor function of the four extremities slowly recovered to a range that was nearly normal. Two longitudinal DTIs (at 11 and 28 months from onset) and fMRI (at 28 months) were performed. Fractional anisotropy and an apparent diffusion coefficient were measured using the region of interest method, and diffusion tensor tractography was conducted using a DTI/fMRI combination. Fractional anisotrophy values in the brainstem, which were markedly decreased on the 11-month DTI, were increased on the 28-month DTI. On the fMRI performed at 28 months, the contralateral primary sensori-motor cortex was activated by the movement of either the right or left hand. Diffusion tensor tractography showed that fiber tracts originating from the motor-sensory cortex passed through the known corticospinal tract pathway to the pons. It seems that the weakness of this patient recovered due to the recovery of the damaged corticospinal tracts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Gyu
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seong Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Oh Lyong
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yun Woo
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Su Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016880:Anisotropy; D001931:Brain Mapping; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D020833:Diffuse Axonal Injury / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000503:physiopathology; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D055815:Young Adult