Update on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Neuropathology and Structural Imaging

In this installment of the Windows to the Brain series, the authors present detailed, graphic representation of neuronal injury for all levels of traumatic brain injury (TBI), including mild. We see representation of the swollen axon profiles characteristic of the “diffuse axonal injury” that produces transient focal deformations resulting from applied forces such as angular acceleration, pressure, and ballistic trauma, and, over time, the localized swelling that can become sufficient to rupture the axon. A challenge for the clinical follow-up of mild TBI is the presence of considerable differences across patients in the anatomic distribution of affected areas.