Diffusion kurtosis as an in vivo imaging marker for reactive astrogliosis in traumatic brain injury

► We examined diffusion kurtosis (DK) as a marker for traumatic brain injury (TBI). ► DK is sensitive to inflammatory processes even when other DTI parameters normalized. ► Increased mean kurtosis is associated with increased reactive astrogliosis. ► DKI complements normal DTI parameters for accurate assessment of sequelae from TBI.