Turkish Neurosurgery 2013 , Vol 23 , Num 3
The Correlation of Serum NT-proBNP Levels of Hemorrhagic and Ischemic Lesions Detected with Diffusion MRI in Head Traumas
Bekir AKGUN1, Fatih Serhat EROL2, Hanefi YILDIRIM3, Nevin ILHAN4, Metin KAPLAN2
1Yuksekova State Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Hakkari, Turkey
2Firat University Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Elazig, Turkey
3Firat University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Elazig, Turkey
4Firat University Hospital, Department of Biochemistry, Elazig, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.6982-12.1 AIM: To evaluate the correlation between the dimensions of ischemic and hemorrhagic lesions detected by diffusion MRI and the changes in lesion dimensions with serum NT-proBNP levels in mild and moderate head trauma.

MATERIAL and METHODS: 30 patients were assessed in our study. A control group of 10 individuals with no trauma history was formed in order to establish normal serum NT-proBNP values. Patients underwent brain diffusion MRI 24 and 48 hours following admittance. Their plasma NT-proBNP levels were checked at the same stages.

RESULTS: The correlation between the values of 24th and 48th hour Intra-axial hemorrhage (IAHEM) and Intra-axial ischemia (IAISC) and the values of 24th and 48th hour NT-proBNP was established as statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: It was observed that the serum NT-proBNP values could be higher in patients with wide intra-axial lesion following head trauma than patients with smaller intra-axial lesions. In addition, the fact that it has been established that the serum NT-proBNP values of patients with increasing cerebral parenchymal lesion dimensions on the advancing hours after the trauma increase suggests that serum NTproBNP values may be significant in the follow-up of the dimensions of cerebral parenchymal damage. Keywords : Head injuries, NT-proBNP, Diffusion MRI, Ischemia, Hemorrhage

Corresponding author : Bekir Akgun, bekirakgun@yahoo.com