Prospective Associations of Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging Biomarkers with Fatigue Symptom Severity in Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Fatigue may be among the most profound and debilitating consequences of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, neurostructural risk factors associated with post-injury fatigue remain elusive. This prospective study aimed to evaluate the independent value of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) biomarkers, over-And-Above known risk factors, to predict fatigue symptom severity in children with TBI. Forty-Two children were examined with structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI), including a SWI sequence, within eight weeks post-injury. The PedsQL Multi-Dimensional Fatigue Scale (MFS) was administered 24 months post-injury. Compared with population expectations, the TBI group displ..