The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Jul 2008
Diffusion tensor imaging in relation to cognitive and functional outcome of traumatic brain injury in children.
To investigate the relation of white matter integrity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to cognitive and functional outcome of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. ⋯ DTI is sensitive to white matter injury at 3 months following moderate to severe TBI in children, including brain regions that appear normal on conventional magnetic resonance imaging. DTI measures reflecting diffusion of water parallel and perpendicular to white matter tracts as calculated by fiber tracking analysis are related to global outcome, cognitive processing speed, and speed of resolving interference in children with moderate to severe TBI. Longitudinal data are needed to determine whether these relations between DTI and neurobehavioral outcome of TBI in children persist at longer follow-up intervals.