TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, ALCOHOL AND QUANTITATIVE NEUROIMAGING - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Magnetic resonance (MR) quantitative neuroimaging analysis was underta ken with a large group of normal (n = 197) and traumatically brain inj ured (TBI, n = 99) adults. Of the TBI subjects 18 patients were identi fied with a history of substance-related abuse (TBI/Abuse group). Both the TBI/Abuse group and the remaining sample of TBI patients (n = 81, TBI/Non-abuse group) without a history of substance-related abuse dif fered significantly from the control group on most quantitative MR ima ging analyses. The TBI/Abuse group displayed the greatest degree of at rophic change. However, the TBI/Abuse group had a significantly lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, ostensibly suggesting that those with substance-related abuse suffered more severe brain injury than non-abu se TBI patients. When a subset (n = 18) of the TBI/Non-abuse group was matched by GCS, gender and age to the TBI/Abuse group, both groups di ffered significantly from the control group on most morphometric measu res, but did not differ from one another. Results are discussed in ter ms of the potential adverse role that substance-related abuse, particu larly alcohol, plays in the individual who sustains traumatic injury t o the brain.