Structural Neuroimaging Findings in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Sports Med Arthrosc Rev. 2016 Sep;24(3):e42-52. doi: 10.1097/JSA.0000000000000119.

Abstract

Common neuroimaging findings in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), including sport-related concussion (SRC), are reviewed based on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Common abnormalities radiologically identified on the day of injury, typically a computed tomographic scan, are in the form of contusions, small subarachnoid or intraparenchymal hemorrhages as well as subdural and epidural collections, edema, and skull fractures. Common follow-up neuroimaging findings with MRI include white matter hyperintensities, hypointense signal abnormalities that reflect prior hemorrhage, focal encephalomalacia, presence of atrophy and/or dilated Virchow-Robins perivascular space. The MRI findings from a large pediatric mTBI study show low frequency of positive MRI findings at 6 months postinjury. The review concludes with an examination of some of the advanced MRI-based image analysis methods that can be performed in the patient who has sustained an mTBI.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Athletic Injuries / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain Concussion / diagnostic imaging*
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Neuroimaging / methods*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*
  • Trauma Centers