In two separate studies, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)to examine white matter changes secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI). The first study examined the utility of DTI for a single case diagnosis of mild TBI (mTBI) and demonstrated that the anterior limb of the internal capsule and the genu of the corpus callosum were sensitive and specific to mTBI. The second study examined the sub-acute effects of SCI on white matter tissue in the brain and demonstrated that SCI patients have a significantly greater degree of FA asymmetry than control subjects in the superior and posterior corona radiata. The first study has provided preliminary proof of principal evidence that DTI can be used to diagnose mTBI in individual cases. The second study suggests that the degree of asymmetry may be a useful biomarker for detecting subtle white matter changes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/27349 |
| Date | 31 May 2011 |
| Creators | Koshimori, Yuko |
| Contributors | Green, Robin |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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