MRI of the diffuse axonal injury

ABSTRACT

CT has facilitated early recognition and treatment of focal brain injuries in patients with head trauma. However. CT shows relatively low sensitivity in identifying nonhemorrhagic contusion and injuries of white matter. MR is known to be superior to CT in detection of which matter injuries, such as diffuse axonal injury. MR imaging in 14 cases of diffuse axonal injury on 2.0T was studied. The corpus callosum, especially the body portion, was the most commonly involved site. The lesions ranged from 5 to 20 mm in size with ovoid to elliptical shape. T2WI was the most sensitive pulse sequence in detecting lesions such as white matter degeneration, hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic contusion. The lesions were nonspecific as high and low signal intensities on T2WI and T1WI respectively. CT showed white matter abnormality in only 1 case of 14 cases. We propose MR imaging as the primary imaging procedure for the detection of diffuse axonal injury because of its multiplanar capabilities and higher sensitivity.