Brain insults during childhood can perturb the already non-linear trajectory of typical brain maturation. The diffuse effects of injury can be modelled using structural covariance networks (SCN), which change as a function of neurodevelopment. However, SCNs are estimated at the group-level, limiting applicability to predicting individual-subject outcomes. This study aimed to measure the divergence of the brain networks in paediatric traumatic brain injury (pTBI) patients and controls, and investigate relationships with executive functioning (EF) at 24 months post-injury. T1-weighted MRI acquired acutely in 78 child survivors of pTBI and 33 controls underwent 3D-tissue segmentation to estimate cortical thickness (CT) across 68 atlas-based regions-of-interest (ROIs). Using an ‘add-one-patient’ approach, we estimate a developmental divergence index (DDI). Our approach adopts a novel analytic framework in which age-appropriate reference networks to calculate the DDI were generated from control participants from the ABIDE dataset using a sliding-window approach. Divergence from the age-appropriate SCN was related to reduced EF performance and an increase in behaviours related to executive dysfunctions. The DDI measure showed predictive value with regard to executive functions, highlighting that early imaging can assist in prognosis for cognition.

童年时期的大脑损伤可能会扰乱典型大脑成熟的非线性轨迹。损伤的弥散效应可以使用结构协方差网络 (SCN) 进行建模，该网络会随着神经发育的变化而变化。然而，SCN 是在群体层面上估计的，限制了预测个体受试者结果的适用性。本研究旨在测量儿童创伤性脑损伤 (pTBI) 患者和对照患者大脑网络的差异，并调查损伤后 24 个月时与执行功能 (EF) 的关系。对 78 名 pTBI 儿童幸存者和 33 名对照者急性采集的 T1 加权 MRI 进行了 3D 组织分割，以估计 68 个基于图集的感兴趣区域 (ROI) 的皮质厚度 (CT)。使用“添加一名患者”的方法，我们估计了发育差异指数（DDI）。我们的方法采用了一种新颖的分析框架，其中用于计算 DDI 的适合年龄的参考网络是使用滑动窗口方法从 ABIDE 数据集的控制参与者生成的。与年龄相适应的 SCN 的背离与 EF 表现的降低和与执行功能障碍相关的行为的增加有关。DDI 测量显示了执行功能的预测价值，强调早期成像可以帮助认知预后。