Intracranial pressure elevations in diffuse axonal injury are associated with non-hemorrhagic MR lesions in central mesencephalic structures

• Objective: Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) in severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is not well defined. This study investigated the occurrence of increased ICP and whether clinical factors and lesion localization on MRI were associated with increased ICP in DAI patients.Methods: Fifty-two severe TBI patients (median 24, range 9-61 years), with ICP-monitoring and DAI on MRI, using T2*-weighted gradient echo, susceptibility-weighted and diffusion-weighted (DW) sequences, were enrolled. Proportion of good monitoring time (GMT) with ICP>20 mmHg during the first 120 hours post-injury was calculated and associations with clinical and MRI-related factors were evaluated using linear regression. Results: All patients had episodes of ICP>20 mmHg. The mean proportion of GMT with ICP>20 mmHg was 5% and 27% of the patients (14/52) had more than 5% of GMT with ICP>20 mmHg. Glasgow Coma Scale motor score at admission (P=0.04) and lesions on DW images in the substantia nigra and mesencephalic tegmentum (SN-T, P=0.001) were associated with the proportion of GMT with ICP>20 mmHg. In multivariate linear regression, lesions on DW images in SN-T (8% of GMT with ICP>20 mmHg, 95% CI 3–13%, P=0.004) and young age (-0.2% of GMT with ICP>20 mmHg, 95% CI -0.07–-0.3%, P=0.0008) were associated with increased ICP.   Conclusions: Increased ICP occurs in ~1/3 of severe TBI patients with DAI. Age and lesions on DW images in the central mesencephalon (SN-T) associate with elevated ICP. These findings suggest that MR lesion localization may aid prediction of increased ICP in DAI patients.

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MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine (hsv//eng)

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