Role of Diffusion Tensor Imaging Combined with Neuron-Specific Enolase and S100 calcium-binding protein B Detection in Predicting the Prognosis of Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Background Traumatic brain injury (TBI) seriously affects the quality of life of patients. The present study evaluated the role of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) combined with Neuron-Specific Enolase (NSE) and S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B) protein in predicting the prognosis of moderate and severe TBI. Methods The TBI patients were divided into moderate TBI (TBIm) and severe TBI (TBIs) groups according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) after admission. The patients were then divided into good and poor prognosis groups according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS); moreover, their follow-ups were recorded at 3 and 6 months after injury. This study also included 65 healthy individuals with matched age and gender as the control group. The fractional anisotropy (FA) values of DTI, serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and S100B protein levels were detected in this study. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22.0) to evaluate the role of DTI combined with NSE and S100B protein in predicting the prognosis in TBIm and TBIs. Results: After TBI, the FA values of DTI in the TBI group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05); moreover, the serum NSE and S100B values in the TBI group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). In the TBIm patients, the FA values of the corpus callosum in the good prognosis group were higher than that in the poor prognosis group (P<0.05); however, there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the FA values of the internal capsule and the cerebral peduncle (P>0.05). The serum levels of NSE and S100B in the good prognosis group were significantly lower than those in the poor prognosis group (P<0.05). In the TBIs patients, the FA value of all areas in the good prognosis group was significantly higher than that in the poor prognosis group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two prognosis groups regarding the serum levels of NSE and S100B (P>0.05). Conclusion Although DTI combined with NSE and S100B protein can effectively predict the prognosis of patients with moderate and severe TBI in the early stages, various other measures have been used in the studies to predict the prognosis of TBI patients. Accordingly, comparison with other measures is essential in further studies.