JAMA: A new imaging study suggests that cerebral blood flow recovery in the
brain could be a biomarker of outcomes in patients following
concussion, according to a study published online by JAMA Neurology.
Most of the 3.8 million sports-related traumatic brain injuries
(TBIs) that occur annually are concussions. Developing methods to
diagnose the presence and severity of concussions is imperative. Reduced
cerebral blood flow (CBF) is a marker of concussion severity in animal
models, according to the study background.
Timothy B. Meier, Ph.D., of the Mind Research Network/Lovelace
Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, N.M., and
coauthors looked at the recovery of CBF in a group of 44 college
football players and compared the course of CBF recovery with that of
cognitive and behavioral symptoms. The study was done between March 2012
and December 2013.
Of the 44 players, 17 were concussed and had imaging performed one
day, one week and one month postconcussion. The study also included 27
healthy football players as the control group.
The study results indicate that both cognitive (simple reaction time)
and neuropsychiatric symptoms at one day postinjury resolved at either
one week postinjury or one month postinjury. The imaging data suggested
CBF recovery in parts of the brain. The authors also found that CBF in
the dorsal midinsular cortex part of the brain was decreased at one
month postconcussion in slower-to-recover athletes and in athletes with
the most severe initial psychiatric symptoms.
“To our knowledge, this study provides the first prospective evidence
of reduced CBF and subsequent recovery following concussion in a
homogenous sample of collegiate football athletes and also demonstrates
the potential of quantified CBF as an objective biomarker for
concussion,” the study concludes.
(JAMA Neurol. Published online March 2, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.4778. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
Editor’s Note: This
research was conducted using internal funds from the Laureate Institute
for Brain Research, which is supported by the William K. Warren
Foundation. Please see the article for additional information, including
other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial
disclosures, funding and support, etc.