title: Association of initial CT findings with quality-of-life outcomes for traumatic brain injury in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of acquired disability in children and adolescents.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the association between specific findings on initial noncontrast head CT and long-term outcomes in children who have suffered TBI.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was an IRB-approved prospective study of children ages 2-17 years treated in emergency departments for TBI and who underwent a head CT as part of the initial work-up (n = 347). The change in quality of life at 12 months after injury was measured by the PedsQL scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with TBI who had intracranial injuries identified on the initial head CT had a significantly lower quality-of-life scores compared to children with TBI whose initial head CTs were normal. In multivariate analysis, children whose initial head CT scans demonstrated intraventricular hemorrhage, parenchymal injury, midline shift ≥ 5 mm, hemorrhagic shear injury, abnormal cisterns or subdural hematomas ≥ 3 mm had lower quality of life scores 1 year after injury than children whose initial CTs did not have these same injuries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Associations exist between findings from the initial noncontrast head CT and quality of life score 12 months after injury in children with TBI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seattle Children's Hospital and University of Washington, 4800 Sand Point Way NE M/S R-5417, Seattle, WA 98105, USA. jonathan.swanson@seattlechildrens.org
authors.forename: Jonathan O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Monica S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Vavilala
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pruthi
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Kenneth M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Durbin
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koepsell
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Temkin
authors.forename: Frederick P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Rivara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*