Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jun 2017
Central Nervous System Changes Induced by Underbody Blast-Induced Hyperacceleration: An in Vivo Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study.
Blast-related traumatic brain injury (bTBI) resulting from improvised explosive devices is the hallmark injury of recent wars, and affects many returning veterans who experienced either direct or indirect exposure. Many of these veterans have long-term neurocognitive symptoms. However, there is very little evidence to show whether blast-induced acceleration alone, in the absence of secondary impacts, can cause mild TBI. ⋯ Significant reduction in mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were observed in the hippocampus, thalamus, internal capsule, and corpus callosum as early as 2 h, and sustained up to 7 days post-uBIH. Total creatine (Cr) and glutamine (Gln) were reduced in the internal capsule at 24 h post-uBIH. The reductions in DTI parameters, Cr and Gln in vivo suggest potential activation of astrocytes and diffuse axonal injury following a single underbody blast, confirming previous histology reports.