Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been called a “signature injury” in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. As of the first quarter of 2012, the total incidence of TBI in U.S. military personnel since 2000 is 244,217 with 76.8% of these incidents concussive or ‘mild’ TBI. Very large numbers of civilians, up to 1.5 million people per year, in the
United States also have traumatic brain injuries caused by car accidents, falls, sports-related injuries, or assault.
Traumatic brain injury can cause permanent problems with thinking, memory, control of emotions, organization, and planning.
In traumatic brain injury, brain wiring (axonal) damage is a major pathophysiological process and may be a primary cause of adverse neurological outcomes. However, traumatic …show more content…
Dr. David Brody and his team came up with the idea of combining two new imaging techniques with hope to obtain the enriched information about brain functioning after traumatic injury in military personnel. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) appears to have great promise with regard to detecting axonal injury. Resting-state fMRI correlation analysis (fcMRI) likewise may be a powerful and broadly applicable method for investigating brain functional connectivity. These two advanced MRI techniques, along with a full conventional MRI, can be performed on standard clinical MRI scanners in approximately 45 minutes per patient. In addition, there has been a great deal of interest in genetic risk factors for the development of specific post-traumatic sequelae. The interactions of these risk factors with specific patterns of traumatic axonal injury have not been assessed in military TBI patients. These methods may add clinically useful predictive information following traumatic brain injury that could be of assistance in standardizing diagnostic criteria for TBI, making return-to-duty triage decisions, guiding post-injury rehabilitation, and developing novel …show more content…
Follow-up were planned to occur monthly 6-12 months after injury.
Clinical information on TBI outcomes were planned to be collected along with repeat DTI, resting-state fMRI, and conventional MRI to track the evolution of the injuries.
The study found that US military personnel with concussive blast-related TBI mild enough to remain in theatre still fared quite poorly on clinical outcome measures acquired 6–12 months following injury. Most notably, the percentage of subjects with poor global outcome was much higher than what has been previously reported in comparable civilian studies. The lack of correlation between time to return to duty and the outcome measures is likely the result of the fact that the return to duty decision is based on overall clinical assessments.
The early data include DTI findings which support the hypothesis that blast-related mild traumatic brain injury can involve axonal injury. This study provides proof-of-concept data indicating that DTI has the potential to reveal disruptions of white matter integrity in specifically vulnerable brain regions. While emphasizing the value of behavioral and neurocognitive assessments in addition to changes in consciousness, amnesia, and
United States also have traumatic brain injuries caused by car accidents, falls, sports-related injuries, or assault.
Traumatic brain injury can cause permanent problems with thinking, memory, control of emotions, organization, and planning.
In traumatic brain injury, brain wiring (axonal) damage is a major pathophysiological process and may be a primary cause of adverse neurological outcomes. However, traumatic …show more content…
Dr. David Brody and his team came up with the idea of combining two new imaging techniques with hope to obtain the enriched information about brain functioning after traumatic injury in military personnel. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) appears to have great promise with regard to detecting axonal injury. Resting-state fMRI correlation analysis (fcMRI) likewise may be a powerful and broadly applicable method for investigating brain functional connectivity. These two advanced MRI techniques, along with a full conventional MRI, can be performed on standard clinical MRI scanners in approximately 45 minutes per patient. In addition, there has been a great deal of interest in genetic risk factors for the development of specific post-traumatic sequelae. The interactions of these risk factors with specific patterns of traumatic axonal injury have not been assessed in military TBI patients. These methods may add clinically useful predictive information following traumatic brain injury that could be of assistance in standardizing diagnostic criteria for TBI, making return-to-duty triage decisions, guiding post-injury rehabilitation, and developing novel …show more content…
Follow-up were planned to occur monthly 6-12 months after injury.
Clinical information on TBI outcomes were planned to be collected along with repeat DTI, resting-state fMRI, and conventional MRI to track the evolution of the injuries.
The study found that US military personnel with concussive blast-related TBI mild enough to remain in theatre still fared quite poorly on clinical outcome measures acquired 6–12 months following injury. Most notably, the percentage of subjects with poor global outcome was much higher than what has been previously reported in comparable civilian studies. The lack of correlation between time to return to duty and the outcome measures is likely the result of the fact that the return to duty decision is based on overall clinical assessments.
The early data include DTI findings which support the hypothesis that blast-related mild traumatic brain injury can involve axonal injury. This study provides proof-of-concept data indicating that DTI has the potential to reveal disruptions of white matter integrity in specifically vulnerable brain regions. While emphasizing the value of behavioral and neurocognitive assessments in addition to changes in consciousness, amnesia, and