Diffuse axonal injuries: pathophysiology and imaging.

Diffuse axonal shear injury is a common traumatic brain injury, with significant neurologic and behavioral impact on patients. Radiologic recognition of this entity and understanding of its sequelae can be of utmost importance in the prediction of outcome and planning for rehabilitation. MRI has proven to be the optimal means of detection and characterization of DAI lesions, with GRE and FLAIR sequences being particularly helpful, and more advanced techniques such as MRS show preliminary evidence of some utility in determining outcome.