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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Induction of Diffuse Axonal Brain Injury in Rats Based on Rotational Acceleration
Published on: May 9, 2020
Diffuse axonal injury after traumatic brain injury is a prognostic factor for functional outcome: a systematic review
Marleen Maria van Eijck1,2, Guus Geurt Schoonman1,2, Joukje van der Naalt3
1a Department of Neurology , Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital , Tilburg , The Netherlands.
Objective:
To determine the prognosis of adult patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and diffuse axonal injury (DAI).
Methods:
Online search (PubMed, Embase and Ovid Science Direct) of articles providing information about outcome in (1) patients with DAI in general, (2) DAI vs. non-DAI, (3) related to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) classification and (4) related to lesion location/load. A reference check and quality assessment were performed.
Results:
A total of 32 articles were included. TBI patients with DAI had a favourable outcome in 62%. The risk of unfavourable outcome in TBI with DAI was three times higher than in TBI without DAI. Odds ratio (OR) for unfavourable outcome was 2.9 per increase of DAI grade on MRI. Lesions located in the corpus callosum were associated with an unfavourable outcome. Other specific lesion locations and lesions count showed inconsistent results regarding outcome. Lesion volume was predictive for outcome only on apparent diffusion coefficient and fluid attenuation inversion recovery MRI sequences.
Conclusions:
Presence of DAI on MRI in patients with TBI results in a higher chance of unfavourable outcome. With MRI grading, OR for unfavourable outcome increases threefold with every grade. Lesions in the corpus callosum in particular are associated with an unfavourable outcome.
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