Concussions due to accidents, sporting events, or fighting, can lead to complete loss of high-level neurological processes. Researchers have debated for centuries about whether concussion involved in structural damage of brain tissue or physiological changes that weaken brain cell function, is an explanation for this loss. . Now researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University have for the first time found a link between areas of brain damage and neurological processes affected by tremors.
The study was published in Radiology magazine on August 26, providing compelling evidence that concussions cause brain damage. The findings show that diffusion tensor images (DTI), a brain imaging method used by Einstein scientists, can help diagnose tremors and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments.
Dr. Michael Lipton, director of the Gruss Center for Resonance Research (MRRC) and professor of radiology, mental science and behavior at Einstein, said: 'DTI has been used to Learn about other brain disorders, but this is the first study focused on concussion. This is a very effective tool in recognizing the very small brain damage we have found to be related to tremors. '
Each year, more than 1 million Americans suffer from a concussion (often called mild brain damage). The impact of adults is mainly due to accidents when participating in traffic. While most recover from such tremors without leaving any long-term consequences, about 30% suffer from permanent neurological impairment - there is a change in personality or unable to plan for a certain event. A 2003 federal study called tremors a 'serious public health problem' and consumed the United States 80 billion dollars a year.
Currently, the major concussion diagnosis and patient's accident history and medical tests for common symptoms of concussions include headache, dizziness, and abnormal behavioral manifestations. . There is no way to know from these medical tests who will suffer the most consequences and who will recover the fastest. The results of the Einstein study show that the DTI scan can provide a more objective method of diagnosing concussions, determining whether brain damage has actually occurred, and possibly predicting functional impairment. long-term treatment. Administration is the ability to make decisions, organize, and schedule time.
The Einstein study involved 20 people who had been traumatized (18 people due to traffic accidents and 2 fellows) and 20 healthy subjects. Selected patients from a hospital emergency room; in which 2 people were unconscious, but only for a few minutes. Patients and control groups (healthy subjects) performed conventional brain scans with magnetic resonance (MR) and radiography (CT), along with a series of neuropsychological tests to assess governing function. treatment. All concussion patients performed brain scans and tests within 2 weeks after the accident.
Experts have read common MR and CT scans of patients and control groups and have not found any abnormalities in both groups. However, neuropsychological results show that patients perform much worse management function tests than the control group. Patients and control groups also performed diffusion tensor capture (DTI), a recently developed MRI-based imaging technique that recognizes very small changes in the brain by measuring the water diffusion in the object. white matter of the brain. DTI showed abnormal brain areas in 15 patients, while there were no abnormal areas in the control group. The most important thing is the emergence of major structural lesions in concussion patients leading to low results in governance function tests. These damaged areas are located mainly in the frontal lobe of the brain.
Dr. Lipton stressed that the use of DTI can motivate doctors to perform the treatment process early, the best time. He said: 'Functional problems caused by concussions often do not manifest after a few weeks or months. Recognizing early brain damage with DIT and applying rehabilitation treatments to patients in a timely manner, we will be able to partially limit the impact of tremors. "
Dr. Craig Branch, co-author of the study and director of Gruss, MRRC, said: 'We are very excited about these findings. 'For the first time we were able to identify very small illnesses caused by concussions, providing' goals 'for the development of therapies to minimize brain damage'.
Refer:
1. Michael Lipton et al.Diffusion tensor imaging implicates impersonal pre-treatment of executive injury under mild traumatic brain injury.Radiology, August 26, 2009