Clinical significance of dynamic morphological changes of circle cistern observed by computed tomography scanning in patients with severe traumatic brain injury

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of observing the dynamic morphological changes of circle cistern on CT scanning in the patients with acute severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods The CT imaging data of circle cistern of 135 patients with acute severe TBI were analyzed retrospectively. According to the morphological changes of circle cisterns on the initial CT images, 135 cases were divided into 5 groups, and 135 cases carried on prognostic evaluation with Glasgow outcome score (GOS) 6 months later. The relationship between the dynamic morphological changes of circle cistern and the prognosis of patients were analyzed statistically. Results There was a significant relationship between the state of circle cistern and the prognosis of patients. The more obvious the dynamic morphological changes of circle cistern were, the worse prognosis and the higher the fatality was, especially higher mortality in patients with exacerbation of the dynamic morphological changes of circle cistern (79.5%), and the difference was statistically significant among 5 groups (P<0.01). Conclusions There was a significant relationship between the state of circle cistern and the prognosis of the patients with acute severe TBI. The dynamic morphological changes of circle cistern on CT scanning might be used as a promising marker to evaluate the severity of severe TBI, especially in the patients at earlier posttraumatic interval. It is necessary to observe the dynamic change of circle cistern. Key words: Craniocerebral trauma/RA/PA; Tomography, X-ray computed