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Diffusion MRI in pediatric brain injury

Child's Nervous System volume 33, pages 1683–1692 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health issue around the world and can be especially devastating in children as TBI can derail cognitive and social development. White matter (WM) is particularly vulnerable to disruption post-TBI, as myelination is ongoing during this period. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is a versatile modality for identifying and quantifying WM disruption and can detect diffuse axonal injury (DAI or TAI (traumatic axonal injury)). This review covers dMRI studies of pediatric TBI, including mild to severe injuries, and covering all periods post-injury. While there have been considerable advances in our understanding of pediatric TBI through the use of dMRI, there are still large gaps in our knowledge, which will be filled in by larger studies and more longitudinal studies. Heterogeneity post-injury is an obstacle in all TBI studies, but we expect that larger better-characterized samples will aid in identifying clinically meaningful subgroups within the pediatric TBI patient population.

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Acknowledgements

Researchers were supported by the NICHD (R01 HD061504). ELD is supported by a grant from the NINDS (K99 NS096116). ELD and PT are also supported by NIH grants to PT: U54 EB020403, R01 AG040060, and R01 NS080655. CCG is supported by the UCLA BIRC, R01 NS027544, NCAA, US Dept of Defense, UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program, and Easton Foundation.

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Affiliations

  1. Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Marina del Rey, CA, USA

    Emily L. Dennis & Paul M. Thompson

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Talin Babikian & Robert F. Asarnow

  3. UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, Dept of Neurosurgery and Division of Pediatric Neurology, Mattel Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Christopher C. Giza

  4. Departments of Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, Engineering, and Ophthalmology, USC, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Paul M. Thompson

  5. Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Robert F. Asarnow

  6. Brain Research Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Robert F. Asarnow

Authors
  1. Emily L. Dennis
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  2. Talin Babikian
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  3. Christopher C. Giza
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  4. Paul M. Thompson
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  5. Robert F. Asarnow
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Correspondence to Emily L. Dennis.

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Conflicts of interest

Dr. Giza reports consultant fees from NFL-Neurological Care Program, NHLPA, Pearson PLC, Alcobra, Neural Analytics, serves on the advisory panel for the Major League Soccer, NCAA, US Soccer Federation, California State Athletic Commission, and has received speaker fees from Medical Education Speakers Network.

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Dennis, E.L., Babikian, T., Giza, C.C. et al. Diffusion MRI in pediatric brain injury. Childs Nerv Syst 33, 1683–1692 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-017-3522-y

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Keywords

  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Diffusion MRI
  • Diffuse axonal injury
  • Pediatric
  • Concussion