Citation

Bahrami N, Sharma D, Rosenthal S, Davenport EM, Urban JE, Wagner B, Jung Y, Vaughan CG, Gioia GA, Stitzel JD, Whitlow CT, Maldjian JA. Radiology 2016; 281(3): 919-926.

Affiliation

From the Advanced Neuroscience Imaging Research (ANSIR) Laboratory (N.B., D.S., E.M.D., Y.J., C.T.W., J.A.M.), Wake Forest School of Medicine (S.R.), Department of Radiology-Neuroradiology (Y.J., C.T.W.), Department of Biomedical Engineering (N.B., J.E.U., Y.J., J.D.S., C.T.W.), Department of Family and Community Medicine (C.T.W.), Department of Neurosurgery (C.T.W.), Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering (N.B., J.E.U., Y.J., J.D.S., C.T.W.), Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology (C.G.V., G.A.G.), Children's National Health System, George Washington University School of Medicine, Rockville, Md; Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (J.D.S.); and Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex (E.M.D., B.W., J.A.M.).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Radiological Society of North America)

DOI

10.1148/radiol.2016160564

PMID

27775478

Abstract

PURPOSE To examine the effects of subconcussive impacts resulting from a single season of youth (age range, 8-13 years) football on changes in specific white matter (WM) tracts as detected with diffusion-tensor imaging in the absence of clinically diagnosed concussions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Head impact data were recorded by using the Head Impact Telemetry system and quantified as the combined-probability risk-weighted cumulative exposure (RWECP). Twenty-five male participants were evaluated for seasonal fractional anisotropy (FA) changes in specific WM tracts: the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Fiber tracts were segmented into a central core and two fiber terminals. The relationship between seasonal FA change in the whole fiber, central core, and the fiber terminals with RWECP was also investigated. Linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between RWECP and change in fiber tract FA during the season.

RESULTS There were statistically significant linear relationships between RWEcp and decreased FA in the whole (R(2) = 0.433; P =.003), core (R(2) = 0.3649; P =.007), and terminals (R(2) = 0.5666; P <.001) of left IFOF. A trend toward statistical significance (P =.08) in right SLF was observed. A statistically significant correlation between decrease in FA of the right SLF terminal and RWECP was also observed (R(2) = 0.2893; P =.028).

CONCLUSION This study found a statistically significant relationship between head impact exposure and change of FA fractional anisotropy value of whole, core, and terminals of left IFOF and right SLF's terminals where WM and gray matter intersect, in the absence of a clinically diagnosed concussion. (©) RSNA, 2016.

Keywords: American football;

Language: en