Title: MRI volumetric measures of functional outcome after severe pediatric TBI
Legend: Corpus Callosum (CC) cross sectional area correlates with measures of global cognitive function in adolescents recovering from severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). T1-weighted MRI scans (3D inversion-recovery prepared sequence with a rapid gradient echo readout, ie. MP-RAGE/BRAVO) were obtained in 24 adolescents (11-19 years old) 1-2 years after a severe traumatic brain injury, and in 34 typically developing healthy controls (HC). Using a combination of Freesurfer software and custom scripts, CC segmentations were obtained and cross sectional area was determined on the midline sagittal slice. Study participants were administered the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence – Second Edition to determine IQ score, and the Coding and Symbol Search subtests from the Wechsler Scale of Intelligence for Children – Fourth Edition to determine Processing Speed Index (PSI). Corpus callosum cross sectional area was significantly smaller in TBI subjects compared to controls (A). After adjusting for age, sex, intracranial volume, and brain tissue volume, a significant association was found in the TBI group between CC and IQ (B, slope = 0.07 ± 0.02, p = 0.007), and between CC and PSI (C, slope = 0.13 ± 0.05, p = 0.02). No association between CC and IQ or PSI was found in controls.
Citation: Benjamin Yeske, Jeanette Mumford, Gregory Kirk, Erin Bigler, Katherine Bowen, Bedda Rosario, Sue Beers, Paul Rathouz, Michael Bell, Andrew Alexander, Peter Ferrazzano. The 37th National Neurotrauma Symposium, Pittsburgh PA, 2019.
About the Lab: By identifying MRI biomarkers in animal models of pediatric brain injury, Waisman investigator Peter Ferrazzano hopes to provide a means for selecting the patients most likely to benefit from a particular neuroprotective intervention in subsequent clinical trials. Basing patient selection on the physiologic target of therapy rather than simply the disease state will reduce the sample size needed, increase the likelihood of observing a drug effect, and facilitate the translation of promising neuroprotective interventions into clinical use.