Citation

Hayes JP, Morey RA, Tupler LA. Neurocase 2011; 18(3): 258-269.

Affiliation

a National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System , Boston , MA , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13554794.2011.588181

PMID

21879996

Abstract

Blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars represents a significant medical concern for troops and veterans. To better understand the consequences of primary-blast injury in humans, we present a case of a Marine exposed to multiple primary blasts during his 14-year military career. The neuropsychological profile of this formerly high-functioning veteran suggested primarily executive dysfunction. Diffusion-tensor imaging revealed white-matter pathology in long fiber tracks compared with a composite fractional-anisotropy template derived from a veteran reference control group without TBI. This study supports the existence of primary blast-induced neurotrauma in humans and introduces a neuroimaging technique with potential to discriminate multiple-blast TBI. We would like to thank J.G. for sharing his story with us, Elizabeth Selgrade and Gregory McCarthy for helpful discussions regarding the project, and Christopher Lascola for providing a neuroradiology consult. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center workgroup (members include Jean C. Beckham, Patrick S. Calhoun, Rita M. Davison, A. Meade Eggleston, John A. Fairbank, Kimberly T. Green, Angela C. Kirby, Harold Kudler, Jeffrey M. Hoerle, Christine E. Marx, Scott D. Moore, Victoria Payne, Mary C. Pender, Jennifer L. Strauss, Kristy K. Straits-Tröster, and Richard D. Weiner). This work was supported by grants NIMH K23 MH084013 and K23 MH073091, VHA 101RX000389, and the VISN6 MIRECC. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Language: en