Utility of Early Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Enhance Outcome Prediction in Critically Ill Children with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Background Many children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) receive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during hospitalization. There are insufficient data on how different patterns of injury on early MRI inform outcomes. Methods Children (3–17 years) admitted in 2010–2021 for severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score < 9) were identified using our site’s trauma registry. We used multivariable modeling to determine whether the hemorrhagic diffuse axonal injury (DAI) grade and the number of regions with restricted diffusion (subcortical white matter, corpus callosum, deep gray matter, and brainstem) on MRI obtained within 7 days of injury were independently associated with time to follow commands and with Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) scores at the time of discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. We controlled for the clinical variables age, preadmission cardiopulmonary resuscitation, pupil reactivity, motor GCS score, and fever (> 38 °C) in the first 12 h. Results Of 260 patients, 136 (52%) underwent MRI within 7 days of injury at a median of 3 days (interquartile range [IQR] 2–4). Patients with early MRI were a median age of 11 years (IQR 7–14), 8 (6%) patients received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 19 (14%) patients had bilateral unreactive pupils, the median motor GCS score was 1 (IQR 1–4), and 82 (60%) patients had fever. Grade 3 DAI was present in 46 (34%) patients, and restricted diffusion was noted in the corpus callosum in 75 (55%) patients, deep gray matter in 29 (21%) patients, subcortical white matter in 23 (17%) patients, and the brainstem in 20 (15%) patients. After controlling for clinical variables, an increased number of regions with restricted diffusion, but not hemorrhagic DAI grade, was independently associated with longer time to follow commands (hazard ratio 0.68, 95% confidence interval 0.53–0.89) and worse WeeFIM scores (estimate β − 4.67, 95% confidence interval − 8.33 to − 1.01). Conclusions Regional restricted diffusion on early MRI is independently associated with short-term outcomes in children with severe TBI. Multicenter cohort studies are needed to validate these findings and elucidate the association of early MRI features with long-term outcomes in children with severe TBI.