MINI REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurotrauma
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1617126
Meningeal enhancement following traumatic brain injury: a mini review
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Puerto Rico - School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 2Department of Radiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant cause of neurological morbidity, often leading to bloodbrain barrier (BBB) dysfunction and secondary injury mechanisms. Recent advancements in neuroimaging have highlighted traumatic meningeal enhancement (TME) on contrast-enhanced fluidattenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI as a promising biomarker for detecting BBB disruption following TBI. TME, which is hypothesized to arise from vascular injury and inflammatory cascades that compromise the blood-meningeal barrier, has been associated with both acute trauma and longterm neurovascular dysfunction. Its presence, particularly when linked to subdural hematomas and delayed contrast extravasation, not only reflects the immediate severity of the injury but may also indicate chronic neuroinflammatory processes and persistent cognitive deficits. In this review, we gather current evidence on the pathophysiology of TME including its associations with vascular permeability, subdural hematoma, and prolonged inflammatory responses. We explore its potential as a biomarker for injury severity and prognosis in TBI patients. Finally, we further discuss the critical need for standardized imaging protocols and longitudinal studies to determine the clinical implications of persistent TME.
Keywords: traumatic meningeal enhancement, Traumatic Brain Injury, subdural hematoma, blood-brain barrier disruption, imaging biomarkers
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 19 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Arbona-Lampaya, Odeh-Couvertier, Sanchez-Jimenez and Labat-Alvarez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alejandro Arbona-Lampaya, University of Puerto Rico - School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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