Focal neuronal damage in patients with neuropsychological impairment after diffuse traumatic brain injury: evaluation using ¹¹C-flumazenil positron emission tomography with statistical image analysis

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the regional neuronal damage occurring in patients with neuropsychological impairment following diffuse traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared with normal control subjects. In addition, measures of the neuropsychological tests were correlated with regional ¹¹C-flumazenil (FMZ) binding potential (BP) reductions to clarify the relationship between cognitive impairment and regional neuronal damage. We performed ¹¹C-flumazenil positron emission tomography (FMZ-PET) studies using three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection (3D-SSP) statistical image analysis in eight diffuse axonal injury (DAI) patients (mean age 29.1 ± 11.1 years, range 19-46 years). All patients underwent assessment with the Wechsler Adult Intellectual Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) to evaluate general intelligence. Twenty healthy control subjects (mean age 24.4 ± 2.8 years, range 22-30 years) were also studied to obtain a normal database for 3D-SSP. Group comparisons showed significant regional low FMZ uptake in the bilateral medial frontal gyri, the anterior cingulate gyri, and the thalamus. Individual analysis also showed decreased FMZ uptake in these regions; however, the distribution and extent of low FMZ uptake were different in each individual patient. Full-scale IQ (FIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ) negatively correlated with the degree of FMZ BP reduction (BZR index) in the right thalamus. FIQ, verbal IQ (VIQ), and PIQ also negatively correlated with the BZR index in the left medial frontal gyrus. DAI uniformly induced neuronal damage in the medial frontal cortex and the thalamus, which may be related to underlying cognitive impairments in diffuse TBI patients. Future studies to confirm a common area of focal neuronal damage and a direct correlation with neuropsychological testing may validate the use of FMZ-PET for the functional diagnosis of neuropsychological impairments after TBI.