Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown diffuse cereb ral atrophy following traumatic brain injury. In the past, quantitative volumetr ic analysis of these changes was carried out by manually t...
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Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown diffuse cereb ral atrophy following traumatic brain injury. In the past, quantitative volumetr ic analysis of these changes was carried out by manually tracing specific region s of interest. In contrast, voxel based morphometry (VBM) is a fully automated t echnique that allows examination of the whole brain on a voxel by voxel basis. O bjective: To use VBM to evaluate changes in grey matter concentration following traumatic brain injury. Methods: Nine patients with a history or traumatic brain injury (ranging from mild to severe) about one year previously were compared wi th nine age and sex matched healthy volunteers. T1 weighted three dimensional MR I images were acquired and then analysed with statistical parametric mapping sof tware (sPM2). The patients with traumatic brain injury also completed cognitive testing to determine whether regional grey matter concentration correlated with a measure of attention and initial injury severity. Results: Compared with contr ols, the brain injured patients had decreased grey matter concentration in multi ple brain regions including frontal and temporal cortices, cingulate gyrus, subc ortical grey matter, and the cerebellum. Decreased grey matter concentration cor related with lower scores on tests of attention and lower Glasgow coma scale sco res. Conclusions: Using VBM, regions of decreased grey matter concentration were observed in subjects with traumatic brain injury compared with well matched con trols. In the brain injured patients, there was a relation between grey matter c oncentration and attentional ability.
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