DIAGNOSTIC DETERMINATION NEURAL AXON INJURY LINKED BETWEEN TWO HEMISPHERES POST-TRAUMA BRAIN INJURY BY DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING: A CASE REPORT.

Dương Quốc Anh Nguyễn1,, Tran Chi Cương2
1 Bệnh viện Đa khoa Quốc tế S.I.S Cần Thơ
2 S.I.S Can Tho International General Hospital

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Abstract

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a form of acquired brain injury resulting from an external mechanical force to the head make up the alternation of brain function. White matter integrity is critical to brain function. Long term, throughout months, years, these events may result in structural and functional changes of the brain associated with cerebral atrophy, the gradual loss of  neurons and the connections between them, and neurodegeneration, the gradual functional decrease. However, it is difficult to diagnose the injury to the neural tract and the connection between us through traditional imaging techniques.


Case presentation: A 54y woman came to our clinic because of  insufficient coordination of her body.  Her personal history: Severe trauma brain injury with coma in 10 days treated by medical treatment. Some bad conditions after TBI include impairment of memory, insufficiency of coordination of her body, a post-concussion syndrome was suggested. Clinical examination: GCS: 15, strength testing: 5/5 for both sides but our patient can’t walk. Our patient scanned by MRI ((Magnetic resonance imaging) Siemens 3.0 Tesla Spectra system. MRI morphometry used for her detected a significant decline of corpus callosum. MRI - DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging) revealed a decreased FA in the white matter of the right temporal and corpus callosum. Fractional anisotropy is a scalar value between zero and one that describes the degree of anisotropy of a diffusion process. A decrease in the value of FA in corpus callosum is indicative of the loss of connection between both hemispheres. MRI tractography used to describe the amount of neural tracts in corpus callosum.


Conclusion: TBI is a significant public health problem. DTI served as a powerful diagnostic tool, providing imaging results that offered an explanation for our patient’s clinical picture

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References

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