Abstract #2896

Global Diffusion Kurtosis Parameter Changes in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Patients with Persistent Symptoms at Six Months

Jiachen Zhuo¹, Teodora Stoica¹, Steven Roys¹, Chandler Sours¹,², Kathirkamanthan Shanmuganathan¹, Rao P. Gullapalli¹

¹Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; ²Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Patients with mild traumatic-brain-injury (mTBI) pose a special challenge as often the radiological diagnosis may underrepresent the true clinical condition of the patient. In this study, we use diffusion-kurtosis-imaging to study global white and gray matter changes following mTBI at sub-acute and chronic stages and examine their relationship to patients symptoms and cognitive status. mTBI patients with persistent post concussive symptoms showed greater changes in global tissue microstructures. Such changes persist into the chronic stage even when their cognitive performance has recovered. DKI parameters are sensitive to gray matter changes and myelin integrity hence may complement DTI in evaluating mTBI.