Whole brain diffusion tensor tractography in an age-matched control subject and two patients with serial images at approximately two days, six weeks, and one year following severe traumatic brain injury. Credit: Virginia Newcombe/University of Cambridge Researchers in Cambridge suggest that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a specialized MRI, could significantly improve concussion diagnosis by identifying patients at risk of long-term symptoms, which often go undetected with traditional CT scans. The study showed that DTI, along with certain blood biomarkers, could predict with much higher accuracy which patients would have persistent symptoms, thus potentially transforming how concussions are managed in clinical settings.
Offering patients with concussion a type of brain scan known as diffusion tensor imaging MRI could help identify the one in three people who will experience persistent symptoms that can be life-changing, say Cambridge researchers. Around one in 200 people in Europe every year will suffer concussion. In the UK, more than 1 million people attend Emergency Departments annually with a recent head injury.
It is the most common form of brain injury worldwide. When a patient in the UK presents at an Emergency Department with head injury, they are assessed according to the NICE head injury guidelines. Depending on their symptoms, they may be referred for a CT scan, which looks for brain injuries including bruising, bleeding, and swelling.
Limitations of CT Scans for .