title: Tensor-Based Morphometry Reveals Volumetric Deficits in Moderate=Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause widespread and prolonged brain degeneration. TBI can affect cognitive function and brain integrity for many years after injury, often with lasting effects in children, whose brains are still immature. Although TBI varies in how it affects different individuals, image analysis methods such as tensor-based morphometry (TBM) can reveal common areas of brain atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), secondary effects of the initial injury, which will differ between subjects. Here we studied 36 pediatric moderate to severe TBI (msTBI) participants in the post-acute phase (1-6 months post-injury) and 18 msTBI participants who returned for their chronic assessment, along with well-matched controls at both time-points. Participants completed a battery of cognitive tests that we used to create a global cognitive performance score. Using TBM, we created three-dimensional (3D) maps of individual and group differences in regional brain volumes. At both the post-acute and chronic time-points, the greatest group differences were expansion of the lateral ventricles and reduction of the lingual gyrus in the TBI group. We found a number of smaller clusters of volume reduction in the cingulate gyrus, thalamus, and fusiform gyrus, and throughout the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices. Additionally, we found extensive associations between our cognitive performance measure and regional brain volume. Our results indicate a pattern of atrophy still detectable 1-year post-injury, which may partially underlie the cognitive deficits frequently found in TBI.
authors.affiliation: 1 Imaging Genetics Center, Keck School of Medicine , USC, Marina del Rey, California.
authors.forename: Emily L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Dennis
authors.affiliation: 1 Imaging Genetics Center, Keck School of Medicine , USC, Marina del Rey, California.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: 1 Imaging Genetics Center, Keck School of Medicine , USC, Marina del Rey, California.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villalon-Reina
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kernan
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Talin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Babikian
authors.affiliation: 3 Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Los Angeles BioMedical Research Institute , Department of Pediatrics, Torrance, California.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mink
authors.affiliation: 4 Miller Children's Hospital , Long Beach, California.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Babbitt
authors.affiliation: 5 LAC+USC Medical Center , Department of Pediatrics, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: 6 UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, Dept of Neurosurgery and Division of Pediatric Neurology, Mattel Children's Hospital , Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Christopher C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Giza
authors.affiliation: 1 Imaging Genetics Center, Keck School of Medicine , USC, Marina del Rey, California.|7 Departments of Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, Engineering, and Ophthalmology, USC, Marina del Rey, California.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, California.|8 Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Asarnow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MRI; pediatric; tensor based morphometry; traumatic brain injury