@article{ref1,
title="Evaluation of diffusion measurements reveals radial diffusivity indicative of  microstructural damage following acute, mild traumatic brain injury",
journal="Magnetic resonance imaging",
year="2020",
author="Mahan, Margaret Y. and Rafter, Daniel J. and Truwit, Charles L. and Oswood, Mark and Samadani, Uzma",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="PURPOSE: Mild TBI, characterized by microstructural damage, often undetectable on  conventional imaging techniques, is a pervasive condition that disturbs brain  function and can potentially result in long-term deficits. Deciphering the  underlying microstructural damage in mild TBI is crucial for establishing a reliable  diagnosis and enabling effective therapeutics. Efforts to capture this damage have  been extensive, but results have been inconsistent and incomplete. <br><br>METHODS: To that  effect, we set out to examine the shape of the diffusion tensor in mild TBI during  the acute phase of injury. We inspected diffusivity and geometric measurements  describing the diffusion tensor's shape and compared mild TBI (N = 34, 20.4-66.6 yo)  measurements with those from healthy control (N = 42, 20.7-67.2 yo) participants  using voxelwise tract-based spatial statistics. Subsequently, to explore  associations between the diffusion measurements in mild TBI, we performed  nonparametric statistics and machine learning techniques. <br><br>RESULTS: Overall, mild TBI  displayed a diffuse increase in D(λ2), D(λ3), D(radial), D(mean), and C(spherical),  with a diffuse decrease in A(fractional), A(mode), and C(linear), in addition to no  change in D(axial) or C(planar). Most notably, our results provide evidence for  D(radial) as a potential biomarker for microstructural damage, specifically its main  component D(λ2), based on their performance in discriminating between mild TBI and  control groups. A(fractional) was also found to be important for discriminating  between groups. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our results revealed the importance of a diffusion  measurement often overlooked, D(radial), in assessing TBI and suggest  differentiating diffusion measurements has the potential utility to detect  variations in the underlying pathophysiology after injury.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0730-725X",
doi="10.1016/j.mri.2020.12.012",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mri.2020.12.012"
}