T1 and T2 quantification using magnetic resonance fingerprinting in mild traumatic brain injury

Objectives To assess whether MR fingerprinting (MRF)-based relaxation properties exhibit cross-sectional and prospective correlations with patient outcome and compare the results with those from DTI. Methods Clinical imaging, MRF, and DTI were acquired in patients (24 +/- 10 days after injury (timepoint 1) and 90 +/- 17 days after injury (timepoint 2)) and once in controls. Patient outcome was assessed with global functioning, symptom profile, and neuropsychological testing. ADC and fractional anisotropy (FA) from DTI and T-1 and T-2 from MRF were compared in 12 gray and white matter regions with Mann-Whitney tests. Bivariate associations between MR measures and outcome were assessed using the Spearman correlation and logistic regression. Results Data from 22 patients (38 +/- 12 years; 17 women) and 18 controls (32 +/- 8 years; 12 women) were analyzed. Fourteen patients (37 +/- 12 years; 11 women) returned for timepoint 2, while two patients provided only timepoint 2 clinical outcome data. At timepoint 1, there were no differences between patients and controls in T-1, T-2, and ADC, while FA was lower in mTBI frontal white matter. T-1 at timepoint 1 and the change in T-1 exhibited more (n = 18) moderate to strong correlations (|r|= 0.6-0.85) with clinical outcome at timepoint 2 than T-2 (n = 3), FA (n = 7), and ADC (n = 2). High T-1 at timepoint 1, and serially increasing T-1, accounted for five of the six MR measures with the highest utility for identification of non-recovered patients at timepoint 2 (AUC > 0.80). Conclusion T-1 derived from MRF was found to have higher utility than T-2, FA, and ADC for predicting 3-month outcome after mTBI.