Abstract

Imaging of traumatic brain injury: current and future

Author(s): Yoshimi Anzai and Satoshi Minoshima

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability among young adults. CT remains the imaging modality of choice in the acute setting, in order to triage patients requiring emergent surgical intervention or conservative medical management. The vast majority of TBI patients, however, are categorized as mild TBI or concussion. Some patients with mild TBI or concussion have a wide variety of neurological and psychological symptoms where CT and MR remain normal. Advanced imaging techniques, such as diffusion tensor imaging, PET, SPECT or functional MRI, have potential to demonstrate abnormalities that are not detected on morphological imaging studies. Future research is needed to validate new imaging techniques and determine which imaging technique most accurately reveals abnormalities that correlate with functional deficits.