Recent contributions to the body of knowledge on traumatic brain injury (TBI) favor the view that multimodal neuroimaging using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and fMRI, respectively) as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has excellent potential to identify novel biomarkers and predictors of TBI outcome. This is particularly the case when such methods are appropriately combined with volumetric/morphometric analysis of brain structures and with the exploration of TBI-related changes in brain network properties at the level of the connectome. In this context, our present review summarizes recent developments on the roles of these two techniques in the search for novel structural neuroimaging biomarkers that have TBI outcome prognostication value. The themes being explored cover notable trends in this area of research, including (1) the role of advanced MRI processing methods in the analysis of structural pathology, (2) the use of brain connectomics and network analysis to identify outcome biomarkers, and (3) the application of multivariate statistics to predict outcome using neuroimaging metrics. The goal of the review is to draw the community's attention to these recent advances on TBI outcome prediction methods and to encourage the development of new methodologies whereby structural neuroimaging can be used to identify biomarkers of TBI outcome.
Keywords: 3D, three-dimensional; AAL, Automatic Anatomical Labeling; ADC, apparent diffusion coefficient; ANTS, Advanced Normalization ToolS; BOLD, blood oxygen level dependent; CC, corpus callosum; CT, computed tomography; DAI, diffuse axonal injury; DSI, diffusion spectrum imaging; DTI, diffusion tensor imaging; DWI, diffusion weighted imaging; Diffusion tensor; FA, fractional anisotropy; FLAIR, Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery; FSE, Functional Status Examination; GCS, Glasgow Coma Score; GM, gray matter; GOS, Glasgow Outcome Score; GRE, Gradient Recalled Echo; HARDI, high-angular-resolution diffusion imaging; IBA, Individual Brain Atlas; LDA, linear discriminant analysis; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; MRI/fMRI; NINDS, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Neuroimaging; Outcome measures; PCA, principal component analysis; PROMO, PROspective MOtion Correction; SPM, Statistical Parametric Mapping; SWI, Susceptibility Weighted Imaging; TBI, traumatic brain injury; TBSS, tract-based spatial statistics; Trauma; WM, white matter; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging.