When the pressure within the skull rises too high, it can cause brain death or brain herniation, in which parts of the brain are squeezed by structures in the skull. Diagnosis
Diagnosis is suspected based on lesion circumstances and clinical evidence, most prominently a neurological examination, for example checking whether the pupils constrict normally in response to light and assigning a Glasgow Coma Score. Neuroimaging helps in determining the diagnosis and prognosis and in deciding what treatments to give. DSM-5 can be utilized to diagnose TBI and its psychiatric sequelae.The preferred radiologic test in the emergency setting is computed tomography (CT): it is quick, accurate, and widely available. Follow-up CT scans may be performed later to determine whether the injury has progressed.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can show more detail than CT, and can add information about expected outcome in the long term. It is more useful than CT for detecting injury characteristics such as diffuse axonal injury in the  longer term. However, MRI is not used in the emergency setting for reasons including its relative inefficacy in detecting bleeds and fractures, its lengthy acquisition of images, the inaccessibility of the patient in the machine, and its incompatibility with metal items used in emergency care. A variant of MRI since 2012 is High definition fiber tracking (HDFT).Other techniques may be used to confirm a particular diagnosis.
In order to facilitate interdisciplinary communication in the interdisciplinary team between those affected, doctors, physiotherapists and orthotists, a simple description of the gait pattern is useful. J. Rodda and H. K. Graham already described in 2001 how gait patterns of CP patients can be more easily recognized and defined gait types which they compared in a classification. They also described that gait patterns can vary with age. Building on this, the Amsterdam Gait Classification was developed at the free university in Amsterdam, the VU medisch centrum. A special feature of this classification is that it makes different gait patterns very recognizable and can be used in patients in whom only one leg and both legs are affected. The Amsterdam Gait Classification was developed for viewing patients with cerebral palsy. However, it can be used just as well in patients with traumatic brain injuries. According to the Amsterdam Gait Classification, five gait types are described. To assess the gait pattern, the patient is viewed visually or via a video recording from the side of the leg to be assessed. At the point in time at which the leg to be viewed is in mid stance and the leg not to be viewed is in mid swing, the knee angle and the contact of the foot with the ground are assessed on the one hand.Classification of the gait pattern according to the Amsterdam Gait Classification: In gait type 1, the knee angle is normal and the foot contact is complete.