Application research of MR diffusion tensor imaging in diagnosis traumatic axonal injury

Abstract

Objective To explore the value of MR diffusion tensor imaging （DTI） in diagnosis of traumatic Axonal injury （TAI）. Methods Twenty nine patients with traumatic brain injury （TBI） and matched 22 control subjects were performed with DTI. Fractional anisotropy （FA） was calculated from semioval center, corpus callosum, internal capsule and pons of controls and TBI patients. According to Glasgow Score （GCS）, TBI patients were divided into mild group （GCS≥13 ） and moderate-severe group （GCS≤12） , each group compared with control group in FA value. The correlation between FA values in different regions and GCS score were analyzed in DTI group. Results FA value of semioval center was decreased in mild DTI group （ P〈0. 01 ）. FA values of semioval center, corpus eallosum, and internal capsule were decreased in moderate-severe DTI group （ P〈0. 05）. The FA values in semioval center, corpus callosum, and internal capsule were positively correlated with GCS score in TBI group （ P〈0. 05 ）. Conclusions DTI is sensitive to detect the traumatic axonal injury. Changes of FA value in ROIs can access the severity of axonal injury, which is helpful for diagnosis earlier and improving prognosis. Key words: Wounds and injuries/diagnosis ; Axons ; Magnetic resonance imaging; Anisotropy