The Clinical Utility of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Traumatic Brain Injury: Recommendations from the ENIGMA MRS Working Group

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy provides a non-invasive and quantitative measure of brain metabolites. Traumatic brain injury impacts cerebral metabolism and a number of research groups have successfully used this technique as a biomarker of injury and/or outcome in both pediatric and adult TBI populations. However, this technique is underutilized, with studies being performed primarily at centers with access to MR research support. In this paper we present a technical introduction to the acquisition and analysis of in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy and review magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings in different injury populations. In addition, we propose a basic data acquisition scheme that can be added to any imaging protocol, regardless of clinical magnetic resonance platform. We outline a number of considerations for study design as a way of encouraging the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the study of traumatic brain injury, as well as recommendations to improve data harmonization across groups already using this technique.