scholarly journals The Nature of Permanent Post-concussion Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel S. King ◽  
Simon Kirwilliam

Objective: Very few studies have examined permanent post-concussion symptoms (PCSs) after mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). None have reported the nature of such symptoms. Our recent study was the first to report on a wide range of factors affecting PCSs in a representative sample of such patients. This paper presents the frequencies of the different PCSs experienced by this group and compares them with PCSs at earlier stages post injury.Method: One hundred consecutively referred patients to a Community Head Injury Service in Buckinghamshire, UK, for the treatment of long-term PCSs after MTBI were invited to participate in the original study. Those consenting to do so (n = 24, mean time post injury = 6.9 years) completed a Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire. The frequency of the types of symptoms reported is presented. These are then contrasted with comparable PCS presentations at 7–10 days and 6 months post injury from two other studies.Results: Fatigue was reported by all long-term patients. Poor concentration, sleep disturbance, taking longer to think and irritability were the other most frequently endorsed permanent symptoms. The least reported were blurred/double vision, photophobia, nausea, headache and dizziness. A similar pattern was present in those at earlier stages post injury.Conclusions: The most common permanent PCSs may be those best conceptualised as the more cognitively and emotionally based symptoms, and the least common the more somatically based ones. There may be some consistency in the nature of PCSs reported over time.

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Rany Vorn ◽  
Maiko Suarez ◽  
Jacob C. White ◽  
Carina A. Martin ◽  
Hyung-Suk Kim ◽  
...  

Chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has long-term consequences, such as neurological disability, but its pathophysiological mechanism is unknown. Exosomal microRNAs (exomiRNAs) may be important mediators of molecular and cellular changes involved in persistent symptoms after mTBI. We profiled exosomal microRNAs (exomiRNAs) in plasma from young adults with or without a chronic mTBI to decipher the underlying mechanisms of its long-lasting symptoms after mTBI. We identified 25 significantly dysregulated exomiRNAs in the chronic mTBI group (n = 29, with 4.48 mean years since the last injury) compared to controls (n = 11). These miRNAs are associated with pathways of neurological disease, organismal injury and abnormalities, and psychological disease. Dysregulation of these plasma exomiRNAs in chronic mTBI may indicate that neuronal inflammation can last long after the injury and result in enduring and persistent post-injury symptoms. These findings are useful for diagnosing and treating chronic mTBIs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphne C. Voormolen ◽  
Marina Zeldovich ◽  
Juanita A. Haagsma ◽  
Suzanne Polinder ◽  
Sarah Friedrich ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive examination of the relation of complicated and uncomplicated mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with multidimensional outcomes at three- and six-months after TBI. We analyzed data from the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research (CENTER-TBI) research project. Patients after mTBI (Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) score of 13–15) enrolled in the study were differentiated into two groups based on computed tomography (CT) findings: complicated mTBI (presence of any traumatic intracranial injury on first CT) and uncomplicated mTBI (absence of any traumatic intracranial injury on first CT). Multidimensional outcomes were assessed using seven instruments measuring generic and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (SF-36 and QOLIBRI), functional outcome (GOSE), and psycho-social domains including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (PCL-5), depression (PHQ-9), and anxiety (GAD-7). Data were analyzed using a multivariate repeated measures approach (MANOVA-RM), which inspected mTBI groups at three- and six-months post injury. Patients after complicated mTBI had significantly lower GOSE scores, reported lower physical and mental component summary scores based on the SF-36 version 2, and showed significantly lower HRQoL measured by QOLIBRI compared to those after uncomplicated mTBI. There was no difference between mTBI groups when looking at psychological outcomes, however, a slight improvement in PTSD symptoms and depression was observed for the entire sample from three to six months. Patients after complicated mTBI reported lower generic and disease specific HRQoL and worse functional outcome compared to individuals after uncomplicated mTBI at three and six months. Both groups showed a tendency to improve from three to six months after TBI. The complicated mTBI group included more patients with an impaired long-term outcome than the uncomplicated group. Nevertheless, patients, clinicians, researchers, and decisions-makers in health care should take account of the short and long-term impact on outcome for patients after both uncomplicated and complicated mTBI.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-132
Author(s):  
Alice Theadom ◽  
Suzanne Barker-Collo ◽  
Andrea Greenwood ◽  
Priya Parmar ◽  
Kelly Jones ◽  
...  

Objective: To identify the systems available to sub-classify mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to determine their utility in predicting 1-year outcome.Methods: A systematic review to identify mild-TBI sub-classification systems was conducted until March 2016. The identified systems were applied to a cohort ofN= 290 adults who had experienced a mild-TBI, and who had been assessed for post-concussion symptoms 1-year post injury. ANOVAs and regression models were used to determine whether each sub-classification system could distinguish between outcomes and to explore their contribution to explaining variance in post-concussion symptoms 1-year post injury.Results: Nineteen sub-classification systems for mild-TBI met the inclusion criteria for this review. The Saal (1991) classification system significantly differentiated the experience of post-concussion symptoms in our cohort 1-year post injury (F= 2.39,p= 0.05). However, the findings did not remain significant following correction for multiple comparisons and inclusion of socio-demographic and contextual factors in the regression model.Conclusions: Current sub-classification systems fail to explain much of the variance in post-concussion symptoms 1 year following mild-TBI. Further research is needed to identify the factors (including socio-demographic and contextual factors) to determine, who may be at risk of developing persistent post-concussion symptoms.


Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (23 Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. S5.1-S5
Author(s):  
Alex Kiderman ◽  
Carey Balaban ◽  
Mikhaylo Szczupak ◽  
Hillary Snapp ◽  
Michael Hoffer

BackgroundDespite the prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI, concussion) in a wide range of occupational, sport, and military settings, accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment of concussive injuries are delayed by several challenging obstacles. Ability to measure the multisensory functional integrity of numerous neuroanatomical pathways with multiple tasks (oculomotor, vestibular and reaction time) can capture impairments of brain function.Methods106 mTBI patients and 300 control subjects were tested in the vestibular labs at 2 military hospitals. Patients were tested 3 times at average 2.5, 8.5 and 15.8 days post-injury. All patients completed a health history questionnaire, a dizziness handicap index (DHI), a functional gait index (FGI), and Trail Making Tests (TMTs) and were assessed by a battery of tests with video-oculography (I-Portal VOG) comprised of a head mounted, high speed eye tracking system on a rotary chair device (I-Portal Neuro-Otologic Test Center). The individuals in the study performed multiple tests including saccades, antisaccade, pursuit tracking, nystagmus, optokinetic, vestibular motion, and reaction time.ResultsNo single test was sufficiently predictive to have separation between controls and mTBI subjects but results from a computer controlled rotational head impulse test (crHIT), antisaccade and predictive saccade were highly correlated with mTBI for the first test session. Longitudinally, for example, 74% of patients in session 1, 56% in session 2% and 51% in session 3 had in crHIT gain or absolute asymmetry above 95% of the respective control's distribution.ConclusionThese results suggest that vestibular, oculomotor and reaction time tests using can provide an objective and reliable method of capturing and quantifying abnormal response in patients with mTBI. In addition, this type of testing can be used to monitor the recovery process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huazhen Chen ◽  
Karl Kevala ◽  
Elma Aflaki ◽  
Juan Marugan ◽  
Hee-Yong Kim

Abstract Background Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can result in chronic visual dysfunction. G-protein receptor 110 (GPR110, ADGRF1) is the target receptor of N-docosahexaenoylethanolamine (synaptamide) mediating the anti-neuroinflammatory function of synaptamide. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an endogenous and a synthetic ligand of GPR110, synaptamide and (4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)-N-(2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl) docosa-4,7,10,13,16,19-hexaenamide (dimethylsynaptamide, A8), on the mTBI-induced long-term optic tract histopathology and visual dysfunction using Closed-Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration (CHIMERA), a clinically relevant model of mTBI. Methods The brain injury in wild-type (WT) and GPR110 knockout (KO) mice was induced by CHIMERA applied daily for 3 days, and GPR110 ligands were intraperitoneally injected immediately following each impact. The expression of GPR110 and proinflammatory mediator tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the brain was measured by using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in an acute phase. Chronic inflammatory responses in the optic tract and visual dysfunction were assessed by immunostaining for Iba-1 and GFAP and visual evoked potential (VEP), respectively. The effect of GPR110 ligands in vitro was evaluated by the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production in primary microglia isolated from adult WT or KO mouse brains. Results CHIMERA injury acutely upregulated the GPR110 and TNF gene level in mouse brain. Repetitive CHIMERA (rCHIMERA) increased the GFAP and Iba-1 immunostaining of glia cells and silver staining of degenerating axons in the optic tract with significant reduction of N1 amplitude of visual evoked potential at up to 3.5 months after injury. Both GPR110 ligands dose- and GPR110-dependently increased cAMP in cultured primary microglia with A8, a ligand with improved stability, being more effective than synaptamide. Intraperitoneal injection of A8 at 1 mg/kg or synaptamide at 5 mg/kg significantly reduced the acute expression of TNF mRNA in the brain and ameliorated chronic optic tract microgliosis, astrogliosis, and axonal degeneration as well as visual deficit caused by injury in WT but not in GPR110 KO mice. Conclusion Our data demonstrate that ligand-induced activation of the GPR110/cAMP system upregulated after injury ameliorates the long-term optic tract histopathology and visual impairment caused by rCHIMERA. Based on the anti-inflammatory nature of GPR110 activation, we suggest that GPR110 ligands may have therapeutic potential for chronic visual dysfunction associated with mTBI.


Author(s):  
Veronik Sicard ◽  
Danielle C. Hergert ◽  
Sharvani Pabbathi Reddy ◽  
Cidney R. Robertson-Benta ◽  
Andrew B. Dodd ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to examine the predictors of cognitive performance in patients with pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (pmTBI) and to determine whether group differences in cognitive performance on a computerized test battery could be observed between pmTBI patients and healthy controls (HC) in the sub-acute (SA) and the early chronic (EC) phases of injury. Method: 203 pmTBI patients recruited from emergency settings and 159 age- and sex-matched HC aged 8–18 rated their ongoing post-concussive symptoms (PCS) on the Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory and completed the Cogstate brief battery in the SA (1–11 days) phase of injury. A subset (156 pmTBI patients; 144 HC) completed testing in the EC (∼4 months) phase. Results: Within the SA phase, a group difference was only observed for the visual learning task (One-Card Learning), with pmTBI patients being less accurate relative to HC. Follow-up analyses indicated higher ongoing PCS and higher 5P clinical risk scores were significant predictors of lower One-Card Learning accuracy within SA phase, while premorbid variables (estimates of intellectual functioning, parental education, and presence of learning disabilities or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) were not. Conclusions: The absence of group differences at EC phase is supportive of cognitive recovery by 4 months post-injury. While the severity of ongoing PCS and the 5P score were better overall predictors of cognitive performance on the Cogstate at SA relative to premorbid variables, the full regression model explained only 4.1% of the variance, highlighting the need for future work on predictors of cognitive outcomes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 219 (4) ◽  
pp. e144-e145
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Shinn ◽  
Amy Pate ◽  
Frederique Pinto ◽  
Akella Chendrasekhar

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Déry ◽  
Béatrice Ouellet ◽  
Élaine de Guise ◽  
Ève-Line Bussières ◽  
Marie-Eve Lamontagne

Abstract Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an increasing public health problem, because of its persistent symptoms and several functional consequences. Understanding the prognosis of a condition is an important component of clinical decision-making and can help to guide prevention of persistent symptoms following mTBI. Prognosis of mTBI has stimulated several empirical primary research papers and many systematic reviews leading to the identification of a wide range of factors. We aim to synthesize these factors to get a better understanding of their breadth and scope.Methods: We conducted an overview of systematic reviews. We searched in databases systematic reviews synthesizing evidence about prognosis of persistent symptoms after mTBI in the adult population. Two reviewers independently screened all references and selected eligible reviews based on eligibility criteria. They extracted relevant information using an extraction grid. They also rated independently the risk of bias using the ROBIS tool. We synthesized evidence into a comprehensive conceptual map to facilitate the understanding of prognostic factors that have an impact on persistent post-concussion symptoms.Results: From the 3857 references retrieved in database search, we included 25 systematic reviews integrating the results of 312 primary articles published between 1957 and 2019. We examined 35 prognostic factors from the systematics reviews. No single prognostic factor demonstrated convincing and conclusive results. However, age, sex and multiple concussions showed an affirmatory association with persistent post-concussion outcomes in systematic reviews.Conclusion: We highlighted the need of a comprehensive picture of prognostic factors related to persistent post-concussion symptoms. We believe that these prognostic factors would guide clinical decision and research related to prevention and intervention regarding persistent post-concussion symptoms.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020176676


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