Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Athletic neurosurgical emergencies are injuries that can lead to mortality or significant morbidity and require immediate recognition and treatment. This review article discusses the epidemiology of sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) with an attempt to quantify the incidence of neurosurgical emergencies in sports. Emergencies such as intracranial hemorrhage, second impact syndrome, vascular injuries, and seizures are discussed. ⋯ The incidence of sports-related TBI presenting to level I or II trauma centers in the USA is about 10 in 100,000 population per year. About 14 % of the adult sports-related TBIs and 13 % of the pediatric sports-related TBIs were moderate or severe in nature. Patients presenting with headache and neck pain should prompt further investigation for cervical spine and vascular injuries. CT angiography is becoming the modality of choice to screen for blunt cerebrovascular injuries. The treatment of these injuries remains controversial. High-quality evidence in sports-related TBI is lacking. Further research is required to help guide management of this increasingly prevalent condition. The role of prevention and education should also not be underestimated.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Sep 2016
A Dopamine Pathway Gene Risk Score for Cognitive Recovery Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Methodological Considerations, Preliminary Findings, and Interactions With Sex.
With evidence of sexual dimorphism involving the dopamine (DA)-pathway, and the importance of DA pathways in traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery, we hypothesized that sex × DA-gene interactions may influence cognition post-TBI. ⋯ A sex-specific DA-pathway GRS may be a valuable tool when predicting cognitive recovery post-TBI. Future work should validate these findings and explore how DA-pathway genetics may guide therapeutic intervention.
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J Head Trauma Rehabil · Sep 2016
Consistency of Recall for Deployment-Related Traumatic Brain Injury.
To examine the temporal consistency of self-reported deployment-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its association with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. ⋯ Deployment-related TBI may not be reported reliably over time, particularly among war-zone veterans with greater PTSD symptoms. Results of screening evaluations for TBI history should be viewed with caution in the context of PTSD symptom history.
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To determine if changes in cortical alpha-band power in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are associated with the severity of their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and if injury severity and level of exposure to psychologically traumatic events are predictors of these electrophysiological changes. ⋯ Our findings will guide future studies addressing the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying a higher incidence of PTSD in patients with mTBI.
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Years following the insult, patients with traumatic brain injury often experience persistent motor control problems, including bimanual coordination deficits. Previous studies revealed that such deficits are related to brain structural white and grey matter abnormalities. Here, we assessed, for the first time, cerebral functional activation patterns during bimanual movement preparation and performance in patients with traumatic brain injury, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. ⋯ Moreover, a significant interaction effect between Feedback Condition and Group in the primary motor area (bilaterally) (P < 0.001), the cerebellum (left) (P < 0.001) and caudate (left) (P < 0.05), revealed that controls showed less overlap of activation patterns accompanying the two feedback conditions than patients with traumatic brain injury (i.e. decreased neural differentiation). In sum, our findings point towards poorer predictive control in traumatic brain injury patients in comparison to controls. Moreover, irrespective of the feedback condition, overactivations were observed in traumatically brain injured patients during movement execution, pointing to more controlled processing of motor task performance.