Brain volume abnormalities and clinical outcomes following paediatric traumatic brain injury
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Long-term outcomes are difficult to predict after paediatric traumatic brain injury. The presence or absence of focal brain injuries often do not explain cognitive, emotional and behavioural disabilities that are common and disabling. In adults, traumatic brain injury produces progressive brain atrophy that can be accurately measured and is associated with cognitive decline. However, the effect of paediatric traumatic brain injury on brain volumes is more challenging to measure because of its interaction with normal brain development. Here we report a robust approach to the individualised estimation of brain volume following paediatric traumatic brain injury and investigate its relationship to clinical outcomes. We first used a large healthy control dataset (N>1200, age 8-22) to describe the healthy development of white and grey matter regions through adolescence. Individual estimates of grey and white matter regional volume were then generated for a group of moderate/severe traumatic brain injury patients injured in childhood (N=39, mean age 13.53±1.76, median time since injury = 14 months, range 4 – 168 months) by comparing brain volumes in patients to age matched controls. Patients were individually classified as having low or normal brain volume. Neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric outcomes were assessed using standardised testing and parent/carer assessments. Relative to head size, grey matter regions decreased in volume during normal adolescence development whereas white matter tracts increased in volume. Traumatic brain injury disrupted healthy brain development, producing reductions in both grey and white matter brain volumes after correcting for age. Of the 39 patients investigated, 11 (28%) had at least one white matter tract with reduced volume and seven (18%) at least one area of grey matter with reduced volume. Those classified as having low brain volume had slower processing speed compared to healthy controls, emotional impairments, higher levels of apathy, increased anger and learning difficulties. In contrast, the presence of focal brain injury and microbleeds were not associated with an increased risk of these clinical impairments. In summary, we show how brain volume abnormalities after paediatric traumatic brain injury can be robustly calculated from individual T1 magnetic resonance imaging using a large normative dataset that allows the effects of healthy brain development to be controlled for. Using this approach we show that volumetric abnormalities are common after moderate/severe traumatic brain injury in both grey and white matter regions, and are associated with higher levels of cognitive, emotional and behavioural abnormalities that are common after paediatric traumatic brain injury.
Date Issued
2022-08
Date Acceptance
2022-03-12
Citation
Brain: a journal of neurology, 2022, 145 (8), pp.2920-2934
ISSN
0006-8950
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
2920
End Page
2934
Journal / Book Title
Brain: a journal of neurology
Volume
145
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Action Medical Research
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust- BRC Funding
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust- BRC Funding
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust- BRC Funding
National Institute for Health Research
UK DRI Ltd
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/145/8/2920/6618291
Grant Number
GN2805
RDC04 79560
RDA03_79560
RDC04
NIHR-RP-011-048
DRI-CORE2020-CRT
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Clinical Neurology
Neurosciences
Neurosciences & Neurology
paediatric
traumatic brain injury
volume
developmental
cognition
LONGITUDINAL CHANGES
AXONAL INJURY
CHILDREN
MODERATE
PREDICTS
MRI
cognition
developmental
paediatric
traumatic brain injury
volume
Adolescent
Adult
Atrophy
Brain
Brain Injuries
Brain Injuries, Traumatic
Child
Gray Matter
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nervous System Malformations
White Matter
Young Adult
Brain
Humans
Brain Injuries
Nervous System Malformations
Atrophy
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Adolescent
Adult
Child
Young Adult
White Matter
Gray Matter
Brain Injuries, Traumatic
Neurology & Neurosurgery
11 Medical and Health Sciences
17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-06-27