The Relationship between age, injury severity, and MRI findings after traumatic brain injury

Age and injury severity are among the most significant predictors of outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, only a few studies have investigated the association between, age, injury severity, and the extent of brain damage in TBI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between age, measures of injury severity, and brain lesion volumes, as well as viable brain volumes, following TBI. Ninety-eight individuals with mild to very severe TBI (75.5% male, mean age at injury 34.5 years) underwent a structural MRI scan, performed with a 1.5-Tesla machine, on average 2.3 years post-injury. Lesion volumes were highly skewed in their distribution and were dichotomized for statistical purposes. Measures of injury severity were Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS) and duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). Logistic regression analyses predicting lesion volumes, controlling for participants' gender, cause of injury, time from injury to MRI scan, and total brain volume, revealed that both older age and longer PTA were associated with larger lesion volumes in both grey and white matter in almost all brain regions. Older age was also associated with smaller viable grey matter volumes in most neo-cortical brain regions, while longer PTA was associated with smaller viable white matter volumes in most brain regions. The results suggest that older age worsens the impact of TBI on the brain. They also indicate the validity of duration of PTA as a measure of injury severity that is not just related to one particular injury location.