Abstract
BackgroundOur objective was to study the effect of trauma on texture features in cerebral tissue in mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Our hypothesis was that a mild trauma may cause microstructural changes, which are not necessarily perceptible by visual inspection but could be detected with texture analysis (TA).MethodsWe imaged 42 MTBI patients by using 1.5 T MRI within three weeks of onset of trauma. TA was performed on the area of mesencephalon, cerebral white matter at the levels of mesencephalon, corona radiata and centrum semiovale and in different segments of corpus callosum (CC) which have been found to be sensitive to damage. The same procedure was carried out on a control group of ten healthy volunteers. Patients' TA data was compared with the TA results of the control group comparing the amount of statistically significantly differing TA parameters between the left and right sides of the cerebral tissue and comparing the most discriminative parameters.ResultsThere were statistically significant differences especially in several co-occurrence and run-length matrix based parameters between left and right side in the area of mesencephalon, in cerebral white matter at the level of corona radiata and in the segments of CC in patients. Considerably less difference was observed in the healthy controls.ConclusionsTA revealed significant changes in texture parameters of cerebral tissue between hemispheres and CC segments in TBI patients. TA may serve as a novel additional tool for detecting the conventionally invisible changes in cerebral tissue in MTBI and help the clinicians to make an early diagnosis.
Highlights
Our objective was to study the effect of trauma on texture features in cerebral tissue in mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI)
The parameters which differed statistically significantly were mainly based on the co-occurrence matrix
Some prior studies have demonstrated exclusive abnormalities on DWI, ADC, or DTI without overt structural damage seen in other sequences such as T1, T2 [34,37] The use of advanced imaging modalities [31,38,39] and different computer assisted detection (CAD) systems such as texture analysis (TA), which provides quantitative means of characterizing the properties of tissues in cases which tissue changes cannot be detected by direct inspection of the image may offer possible approaches on improving the prognostic capabilities of conventionally used MRI sequences
Summary
Our objective was to study the effect of trauma on texture features in cerebral tissue in mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) accounts for 70 - 90% of all treated brain injuries [1]. MTBI is usually caused by a relatively mild blow to the brain that causes just enough physical injury to possibly compromise the normal brain functions of memory, attention, mental organization, and logical thinking may be compromised. Damage to the brain is often found in the corpus callosum, brain stem, and in subcortical white matter (WM) regions at the site of impact or on the contralateral side after MTBI [2]. One of the biggest challenges in addressing neuropsychological functioning and recovery from MTBI is the diagnosing itself.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
