New research presented in the online journal JAMA Neurology found that cerebral blood flow could be a helpful biomarker for predicting concussion outcomes.
To determine how blood flow is impacted in the days and weeks following a concussion, researchers studied a large sample of college football players who had suffered a concussion. While examining blood flow in the brain, researchers uncovered:
- Players who suffered a concussion experienced decreased cerebral blood flow in the right dorsal midinsular cortex and superior temporal sulcus both a day and a week after the injury.
- Athletes who said they were no longer experiencing concussion symptoms exhibited normal cerebral blood flow one month after injury.
- Cerebral blood flow was still less than normal a month after a concussion in players who were slow to recover from their head injury.
In essence, doctors can use cerebral blood flow as an indicator to see how recovered a person is from a concussion.
The findings “suggest regional cerebral blood flow may provide an objective biomarker for tracking both normal and potentially pathological recovery from concussion,” said Timothy Meier, MD, and colleagues.
Meier added that the dorsal midinsular cortex is located in an area of the brain associated with body orientation and physical response. Common concussion symptoms such as dizziness, delayed reaction times and balance issues could be related to a disruption in this area of the brain.
Cerebral Study
Interestingly, this isn’t the first we’ve learned about the correlation between concussions and lack of cerebral blood flow. Previous studies conducted on animals found that diminished cerebral blood flow was one of the most common problems, but similar studies haven’t been conducted on humans until now.
Meier and his team believe these new findings will help ensure players return to sporting activities at the appropriate time. Instead of relying on self-reported symptoms, doctors can now examine evidence-based brain biomarkers.
“Although evidence suggests that other physiological consequences of concussion might extend beyond typical symptom resolution, these results suggest a potential temporal relationship between the time frame of cerebral blood flow recovery and the resolution of symptoms previously reported in other large-scale clinical studies.”
Dr. Silverman comments
We still have a long way to go, but I’m pleased to see how much attention concussions are getting these days. Treating a foot or ankle injury is much easier than treating a significant brain injury.
In the past few years we’ve learned that symptom prevalence can predict concussion severity, custom mouthguards could reduce football concussions, blood tests can determine concussion severity and that some rest is preferred to extended rest for concussion treatment.
Hopefully we’ll continue to improve on our ability to prevent, diagnose and treat concussions.
Related source: MedPage Today