• Tao Zheng, Yi Yuan, Haoxiang Yang, Juan Du, Shuo Wu, Yinglan Jin, Zhanqiu Wang, Defeng Liu, Qinglei Shi, Xiaohan Wang, and Lanxiang Liu.
• Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Qinhuangdao Municipal No. 1 Hospital, Qinhuangdao, China.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2020 Aug 1; 52 (2): 520-531.

BackgroundLow-intensity transcranial ultrasound (LITUS) has a therapeutic effect on traumatic brain injury (TBI). Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) might be able to evaluate the effect changes of injured brain microstructure.PurposeTo evaluate the therapeutic effect of LITUS in a moderate TBI rat model with DKI parameters.Study TypeProspective case-control animal study.Animal ModelForty-five rats were randomly divided into sham control, TBI, and LITUS treatment groups (n = 15).Field Strength/SequenceSingle-shot spin echo echo-planar imaging and fast T2 WI sequences at 3.0T.AssessmentDKI parameters were obtained on days 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 after TBI.Statistical TestsFor the mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (Ka), and radial kurtosis (Kr) values, groups were compared using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).ResultsLITUS inhibited TBI and caused MK values to increase significantly during the early stage (LITUS vs. TBI, day 7, adjusted P < 0.0001) and decrease during the late stage (LITUS vs. TBI, day 42, adjusted P = 0.0156) in the damaged cortex. In the thalamus, the MK value of the TBI group began to rise on day 7, with no change observed in the LITUS group. TBI increases Ka value during the early stage in the cortex and decreases during the late stage in the cortex and thalamus. LITUS inhibited these Ka changes (LITUS vs. TBI, day 7, adjusted P = 0.0014; LITUS vs. TBI, day 42, adjusted P = 0.0026 and 0.0478, respectively, for cortex and thalamus). The Kr value increased slightly during the early stage in the cortex (TBI vs. Sham, day 1, adjusted P = 0.0016).Data ConclusionThe DKI parameter, particularly the MK value, evaluates primary cortical injury as well as the secondary brain injury that could not be detected by conventional T2 WI.Level Of Evidence1 Technical Efficacy Stage: 4 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:520-531.© 2020 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

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