Abstract #2712

Haacke E, Coplin W, Latif Z, Benson R, Makki M, Meda S, Govindarajan K, Meythaler J, Hanks R, Mills S

Introduction: Each year it is estimated that nearly 2 million Americans sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). A majority of this population is associated with Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) as a result of either primary or secondary effects of trauma. The gravity of the situation is further exacerbated by the fact that DAI is more clinically and diagnostically challenging than focal injuries. Until now, CT has not been very conclusive and effective in detecting DAI. However, relatively newer MR imaging modalities such as DTI have been shown to be useful in detecting DAI. Thus, our aim in this proposed method is to use whole brain FA (Fractional Anisotropy) histogram measures, targeting white matter anisotropy changes due to TBI to obtain an imaging predictor variable that may serve towards better prognosis and diagnosis of TBI patients.Materials and Methods: Twelve patients with closed head injury, varying from moderate to severe and thirteen adult volunteers with no history of any kind of brain injury wer