Automated Measurement of Cerebral Hemorrhagic Contusions and Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury in the TRACK-TBI Study

Abstract

Because withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy based on perceived poor prognosis is the most common cause of death after moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), the accuracy of clinical prognoses is directly associated with mortality. Although the location of brain injury is known to be important for determining recovery potential after TBI, the best available prognostic models, such as the International Mission for Prognosis and Analysis of Clinical Trials in TBI (IMPACT) score, do not currently incorporate brain injury location. To test whether automated measurement of cerebral hemorrhagic contusion size and location is associated with improved prognostic performance of the IMPACT score. This prognostic cohort study was performed in 18 US level 1 trauma centers between February 26, 2014, and August 8, 2018. Adult participants aged 17 years or older from the US-based Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI (TRACK-TBI) study with moderate or severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale score 3-12) and contusions detected on brain computed tomography (CT) scans were included. The data analysis was performed between January 2023 and February 2024. Labeled contusions detected on CT scans using Brain Lesion Analysis and Segmentation Tool for Computed Tomography (BLAST-CT), a validated artificial intelligence algorithm. The primary outcome was a Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) score of 4 or less at 6 months after injury. Whether frontal or temporal lobe contusion volumes improved the performance of the IMPACT score was tested using logistic regression and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve comparisons. Sparse canonical correlation analysis was used to generate a disability heat map to visualize the strongest brainwide associations with outcomes. The cohort included 291 patients with moderate or severe TBI and contusions (mean [SD] age, 42 [18] years; 221 [76%] male; median [IQR] emergency department arrival Glasgow Coma Scale score, 5 [3-10]). Only temporal contusion volumes improved the discrimination of the IMPACT score (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.86 vs 0.84; P = .03). The data-derived disability heat map of contusion locations showed that the strongest association with unfavorable outcomes was within the bilateral temporal and medial frontal lobes. These findings suggest that CT-based automated contusion measurement may be an immediately translatable strategy for improving TBI prognostic models.