Medical image of the week: diffuse axonal injury

No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. An 18-year-old man without any significant past medical history presented to the emergency room trauma bay as an unrestrained passenger involved in a head-on collision at 85 mph. In the emergency room, he was found to have a GCS of 6 and was int...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hannallah J, Elaini T, Wickstrom K, Hooten R, Habib M
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Arizona Thoracic Society 2015-12-01
Series:Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Subjects:
MRI
Online Access:http://www.swjpcc.com/imaging/2015/12/9/medical-image-of-the-week-diffuse-axonal-injury.html
Description
Summary:No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. An 18-year-old man without any significant past medical history presented to the emergency room trauma bay as an unrestrained passenger involved in a head-on collision at 85 mph. In the emergency room, he was found to have a GCS of 6 and was intubated for airway protection. A non-contrast CT of the head demonstrated hyperdense foci in the frontal lobes at the gray-white junction (Figure 1A) and a hyperdense focus in the pons (Figure 1B) consistent with punctate hemorrhages. An MRI of the brain with a gradient recall echo (GRE) sequence (Figure 2) demonstrated more pronounced hypointense foci consisent with hemorrhage. In the setting of the patient’s deceleration injury, the summation of his clinical and imaging findings was consistent with diffuse axonal injury. Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is pattern of closed head injury that results in a traumatic shear injury to the neuronal axons secondary to sudden deceleration and change ...
ISSN:2160-6773