Article Test

Home  >  Medical Research Archives  >  Issue 149  > Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries – Acute State and Short-Term Recovery
Published in the Medical Research Archives
Aug 2015 Issue

Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries – Acute State and Short-Term Recovery

Published on Aug 02, 2015

DOI 

Abstract

 

Mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI), in most cases, cannot be detected using imaging modalities like CT or MRI. However, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) reveals subtle changes in white matter integrity as a result of head trauma and plays an important role in refining diagnosis and management of MTBI. We use DTI to detect the microstructural changes in collegial football players induced by axonal injuries and to monitor their evolution during the recovery process. Three players suffered a MTBI during play or practice and underwent scanning within 24h with follow-ups after one and two weeks. Scalar diffusion indices were derived from diffusion tensors and analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and voxel-wise t-tests to detect brain regions showing significant group differences between the injured subjects and controls. Both analyses revealed overlapping regions in the corticospinal tract with significant increase in fractional anisotropy and decreases in transverse and mean diffusivity within 24 hours. In voxel-wise t-tests strong indications for recovery were found spatially and temporally. For mean and transverse diffusivity, regions showing significant differences shrunk between the first and the follow-up scans. Although the sample size is small, these findings are remarkably consistent across all subjects and scans.

Author info

Armin Fuchs, Angelica Hotiu, Ph.d, Kelly J. Jantzen, Ph.d, Fred Steinberg, M.d., J.a. Scott Kelso, Ph.d

Have an article to submit?

Submission Guidelines

Submit a manuscript

Become a member

Call for papers

Have a manuscript to publish in the society's journal?