Imaging of Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents an enormous public health challenge and is often associated with life long neurobehavioral sequelae in survivors. Several factors including higher percentages of individuals surviving TBI, as well as increasing concern about potential long term sequelae of even relatively mild injuries is changing the role of neuroimaging in the management of this condition. Historically the role has been the detection and acute management of lifethreatening complications requiring surgical intervention. However there is an emerging need for neuroimaging biomarkers that would facilitate detection of milder injuries, allow recovery trajectory monitoring, and identify those at risk for poor functional outcome and disability. This paper reviews the current status of different neuroimaging techniques in TBI and outlines some of the challenges involved in moving towards an expanded role in these domains.