Neuroimaging for Prognosticating in Acute Brain Injury: A Narrative Review

Neuroprognostication is the art and science of predicting the cognitive and physical outcome for a patient after a devastating neurologic injury. Used in reference to disorders of consciousness, it represents the very edge of scientific knowledge about how a mind can recover through neuroplasticity in variable disease states, ages cohorts, and with a constantly evolving arsenal of therapeutics. This narrative review evaluates published material on radiologic modalities for prognostication in major disease states of acute brain injury: anoxic brain injury after cardiac arrest, stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic), traumatic brain injury, and disorders affecting the cerebral spinal fluid, such as hydrocephalus. The paper evaluates current, developing, and future modalities and how they will likely be integrated with multimodal biomarkers or non‐radiologic tools for practice and long‐term standard operationalization.