MRI biomarkers for post-traumatic epileptogenesis

The present study tested a hypothesis that early identification of injury severity with quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides biomarkers for predicting increased seizure susceptibility and epileptogenesis after traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI was induced by lateral fluid percussion injury (FPI) in adult rats. Quantitative T2, T1ρ, and diffusion were assessed with MRI at 9 days, 23 days, or 2 months post-TBI in the perilesional cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus. Seizure susceptibility was assessed at 12 months after TBI using the pentylenetetrazol seizure-susceptibility test. At 9 and 23 days post-TBI, a change in T1ρ of the perilesional cortex showed the greatest predictive value for increased seizure susceptibility at 12 months post-TBI [area under the curve (AUC), 0.929 and 0.952, respectively;