Early Stage Longitudinal Subcortical Volumetric Changes following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. (12th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhuo, Jiachen; Jiang, Li; Sours Rhodes, Chandler; Roys, Steven; Shanmuganathan, Karthikamanthan; Chen, Hegang; Prince, Jerry L.; Badjatia, Neeraj; Gullapalli, Rao P.
• Is Part Of: Brain injury. Volume 35:Number 6(2021)
• Page Start: 725
• Page End: 733
• Publication Date: 2021-05-12
• Subjects: Mild traumatic brain injury -- volumetric analysis -- post concussive symptoms -- magnetic resonance imaging; Brain damage -- Periodicals; Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Periodicals; Brain Injuries -- Periodicals; 617.481
• DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2021.1906445
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-9052

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objective : To investigate early brain volumetric changes from acute to 6 months following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in deep gray matter regions and their association with patient 6-month outcome. Methods : Fifty-six patients with mTBI underwent MRI and behavioral evaluation at acute (<10 days) and approximately 1 and 6 months post injury. Regional volume changes were investigated in key gray matter regions: thalamus, hippocampus, putamen, caudate, pallidum, and amygdala, and compared with volumes from 34 healthy control subjects. In patients with mTBI, we further assessed associations between longitudinal regional volume changes with patient outcome measures at 6 months including post-concussive symptoms, cognitive performance, and overall satisfaction with life. Results : Reduction in thalamic and hippocampal volumes was observed at 1 month among patients with mTBI. Such volume reduction persisted in the thalamus until 6 months. Changes in thalamic volumes also correlated with multiple symptom and functional outcome measures in patients at 6 months. Conclusion : Our results indicate that the thalamus may be differentially affected among patients with mTBI, resulting in both structural and functional deficits with subsequent post-concussive sequelae and may serve as a biomarker for the assessment of efficacy of novel therapeutic interventions.