Traumatic lesions of corpus callosum: early multidetector CT findings

Neuroradiology. 2004 Oct;46(10):812-6. doi: 10.1007/s00234-004-1250-y.

Abstract

Corpus callosum is one of the common sites of brain lesion, whose involvement is an indicator of a more severe prognosis, produced by traumatic shearing stresses resulting in diffuse axonal injury (DAI). Computed tomography (CT) in acute phase is considered to have a limited role for the detection of non-hemorrhagic or petechial hemorrhagic DAI lesions. New generation multidetector CT scanners allow faster acquisition of thinner-slice images and post-processing reformations. Three patients with severe closed head trauma underwent CT examinations using a multidetector scanner, a few hours and the day after injury. The review of original images with narrow window width and integration with reconstruction of thinner slices from raw-data and post-processing multiplanar reformations (MPR) helped to detect the onset of hypodense or predominantly hypodense areas of corpus callosum, not present at admission and afterwards confirmed by MRI.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging*
  • Corpus Callosum / injuries*
  • Corpus Callosum / pathology
  • Diffuse Axonal Injury / diagnostic imaging*
  • Diffuse Axonal Injury / pathology
  • Early Diagnosis
  • Female
  • Glasgow Coma Scale
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed