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Traumatic Brain Injury: Imaging Strategy

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Clinical Neuroradiology

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in a substantial number of deaths and permanent disabilities worldwide. Almost half of all cases of TBI are caused by falls and motor vehicle accidents. The usefulness of imaging in the setting of TBI is beyond dispute. Imaging plays an important role in the evaluation, diagnosis, triage, and follow-up of patients with TBI. Most TBI patients routinely undergo computed tomography (CT) on their arrival at the hospital, and patients with moderate to severe TBI may undergo multiple follow-up examinations. Imaging is particularly useful in patients in whom clinical examination is limited due to coma or sedation. TBI consists of multiple pathoanatomical entities and a thorough knowledge of clinical neuroradiology is imperative for radiologists interpreting CT scans or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies of TBI patients. In this chapter, we review the role of imaging in TBI, including indications, radiological techniques, optimal imaging protocols, and the spectrum of traumatic pathoanatomical entities that can be encountered.

This publication is endorsed by: European Society of Neuroradiology (www.esnr.org).

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Abbreviations

BCVI:

Blunt cerebrovascular injury

CDE:

Common data elements

CSF:

Cerebrospinal fluid

CT:

Computed tomography

DAI:

Diffuse axonal injury

EDH:

Extradural hematoma

GCS:

Glasgow Coma Scale

GRE-T2∗:

Gradient-recalled echo T2∗-weighted imaging

HISS:

Head injury severity score

ICH:

Intracerebral hemorrhage

IVH:

Intraventricular hemorrhage

MDCT:

Multidetector computed tomography

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

mTBI:

Mild traumatic brain injury

SAH:

Subarachnoid hemorrhage

SDH:

Subdural hematoma

SR:

Structured reporting

SWI:

Susceptibility-weighted imaging

TAI:

Traumatic axonal injury

TBI:

Traumatic brain injury

tSAH:

Traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), Edegem, Belgium

    Sven Dekeyzer, Luc van den Hauwe, Thijs Vande Vyvere & Paul M. Parizel

  2. Department of Radiology, AZ KLINA, Brasschaat, Belgium

    Luc van den Hauwe

  3. Antwerp Surgical Training and Anatomy Research Centre (ASTARC), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Thijs Vande Vyvere

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  1. Sven Dekeyzer
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  2. Luc van den Hauwe
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  3. Thijs Vande Vyvere
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  4. Paul M. Parizel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luc van den Hauwe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Centre (VUmc), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Frederik Barkhof

  2. The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and University College Hospital (UCH), UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK

    Hans Rolf Jäger

  3. Section of Neuroradiology and Musculoskeletal Radiology, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, University Hospital Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Majda M. Thurnher

  4. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Vall d’Hebron University Hospital Professor of Radiology and Neuroimmunology, Autonomous University of Barcelona Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain

    Àlex Rovira

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Radiology, AZ Nikolaas, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

    Johan W. Van Goethem

  2. Belgium and Algemeen Ziekenhuis Nikolaas, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

    Johan W. Van Goethem

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Dekeyzer, S., van den Hauwe, L., Vande Vyvere, T., Parizel, P.M. (2019). Traumatic Brain Injury: Imaging Strategy. In: Barkhof, F., Jäger, H., Thurnher, M., Rovira, À. (eds) Clinical Neuroradiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68536-6_27

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