Abstract
Traumatic brain injury is usually assessed with the Glasgow coma scale (GCS), CT, or MRI. After such injury, the injured brain tissue is characterised by calcium mediated neuronal damage and inflammation. Positron emission tomography with the isotope cobalt-55 (Co-PET) as a calcium tracer enables imaging of affected tissue in traumatic brain injury. The aim was to determine whether additional information can be gained by Co-PET in the diagnosis of moderate traumatic brain injury and to assess any prognostic value of Co-PET. Five patients with recent moderately severe traumatic brain injury were studied. CT was performed on the day of admission, EEG within one week, and MRI and Co-PET within four weeks of injury. Clinical assessment included neurological examination, GCS, neuropsychological testing, and Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) after one year. Co-PET showed focal uptake that extended beyond the morphological abnormalities shown by MRI and CT, in brain regions that were actually diagnosed with EEG. Thus Co-PET is potentially useful for diagnostic localisation of both structural and functional abnormalities in moderate traumatic brain injury.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Apasov S., Redegeld F., Sitkovsky M. Cell-mediated cytotoxicity: contact and secreted factors. Curr Opin Immunol. 1993 Jun;5(3):404–410. doi: 10.1016/0952-7915(93)90060-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Graham D. I., Ford I., Adams J. H., Doyle D., Teasdale G. M., Lawrence A. E., McLellan D. R. Ischaemic brain damage is still common in fatal non-missile head injury. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1989 Mar;52(3):346–350. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.3.346. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ikeda Y., Long D. M. The molecular basis of brain injury and brain edema: the role of oxygen free radicals. Neurosurgery. 1990 Jul;27(1):1–11. doi: 10.1097/00006123-199007000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jacobs A., Put E., Ingels M., Bossuyt A. Prospective evaluation of technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT in mild and moderate traumatic brain injury. J Nucl Med. 1994 Jun;35(6):942–947. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jansen H. M., Pruim J., vd Vliet A. M., Paans A. M., Hew J. M., Franssen E. J., de Jong B. M., Kosterink J. G., Haaxma R., Korf J. Visualization of damaged brain tissue after ischemic stroke with cobalt-55 positron emission tomography. J Nucl Med. 1994 Mar;35(3):456–460. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jansen H. M., Willemsen A. T., Sinnige L. G., Paans A. M., Hew J. M., Franssen E. J., Zorgdrager A. M., Pruim J., Minderhoud J. M., Korf J. Cobalt-55 positron emission tomography in relapsing-progressive multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Sci. 1995 Oct;132(2):139–145. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(95)00139-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jennett B., Bond M. Assessment of outcome after severe brain damage. Lancet. 1975 Mar 1;1(7905):480–484. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)92830-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Roper S. N., Mena I., King W. A., Schweitzer J., Garrett K., Mehringer C. M., McBride D. An analysis of cerebral blood flow in acute closed-head injury using technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT and computed tomography. J Nucl Med. 1991 Sep;32(9):1684–1687. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Teasdale G., Jennett B. Assessment of coma and impaired consciousness. A practical scale. Lancet. 1974 Jul 13;2(7872):81–84. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)91639-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- van Zomeren A. H., van den Burg W. Residual complaints of patients two years after severe head injury. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1985 Jan;48(1):21–28. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.48.1.21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]