White matter compromise in veterans exposed to primary blast forces.

Taber, Katherine H

Hurley, Robin A

Haswell, Courtney C

Rowland, Jared A

Hurt, Susan D

Lamar, Cory D

Morey, Rajendra A

United States

2015-12-03T15:19:30Z

2015-01

OBJECTIVE: Use diffusion tensor imaging to investigate white matter alterations associated with blast exposure with or without acute symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI). PARTICIPANTS: Forty-five veterans of the recent military conflicts included 23 exposed to primary blast without TBI symptoms, 6 having primary blast with mild TBI, and 16 unexposed to blast. DESIGN: Cross-sectional case-control study. MAIN MEASURES: Neuropsychological testing and diffusion tensor imaging metrics that quantified the number of voxel clusters with altered fractional anisotropy (FA) radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity, regardless of their spatial location. RESULTS: Significantly lower FA and higher radial diffusivity were observed in veterans exposed to primary blast with and without mild TBI relative to blast-unexposed veterans. Voxel clusters of lower FA were spatially dispersed and heterogeneous across affected individuals. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that lack of clear TBI symptoms following primary blast exposure may not accurately reflect the extent of brain injury. If confirmed, our findings would argue for supplementing the established approach of making diagnoses based purely on clinical history and observable acute symptoms with novel neuroimaging-based diagnostic criteria that "look below the surface" for pathology.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24590156

1550-509X

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10978

eng

Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)

J Head Trauma Rehabil

10.1097/HTR.0000000000000030

Adult

Blast Injuries

Brain Injuries

Case-Control Studies

Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Female

Humans

Image Processing, Computer-Assisted

Male

Middle Aged

Veterans

White Matter

White matter compromise in veterans exposed to primary blast forces.

Journal article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24590156

E15

E25

1

Clinical Science Departments

Duke

Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Duke-UNC Center for Brain Imaging and Analysis

Institutes and Centers

Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Translational Neuroscience

School of Medicine

University Institutes and Centers

Published

30