Magnetic resonance imaging of traumatic brain injury: relationship of T2SE and T2GE to clinical severity and outcome

To evaluate (1) the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2* weighted gradient echo (GE) vs T2 weighted spin echo (SE) technology for lesion detection in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and (2) the relationship of lesion patterns to acute clinical severity and 1 year post-injury outcome measures. Comparative analysis. Forty-three acute rehabilitation patients with TBI were imaged utilizing T2 SE and T2* GE techniques an average of 26 days post-injury. Acute clinical severity measures, including Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), time to follow commands (TFC) and post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) were abstracted from medical records. One-year post-injury outcome measures including Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Disability Rating Scale (DRS) and the Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique--Short Form (CHART-SF) were collected as part of a comprehensive annual follow-up. In comparison to T2 SE, T2* GE more frequently detected lesions in each of the cortical (p