Faculty Collaboration Database

Serial Assessment of Gray Matter Abnormalities after Sport-Related Concussion. J Neurotrauma 2017 Nov 15;34(22):3143-3152

Date

07/01/2017

Pubmed ID

28665173

DOI

10.1089/neu.2017.5002

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85033365903 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   22 Citations

Abstract

There is an urgent need to characterize the acute physiological effects of sport-related concussion (SRC). We investigated the effects of SRC on gray matter structure and diffusion metrics in collegiate athletes at 1.64 (T1; n = 33), 8.33 (T2; n = 30), and 32.15 days (T3; n = 36) post-concussion, with healthy collegiate contact-sport athletes serving as controls (HA; n = 46). Plasma levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were assessed in a subset of athletes. We hypothesized that acute SRC would be associated with increased fractional anisotropy (FA), decreased mean diffusivity (MD), and increased GFAP relative to noninjured HA, without acute differences in gray matter volume or cortical thickness. Further, we hypothesized that neither diffusion nor structure would show longitudinal changes across the first month post-SRC. Finally, we hypothesized that gray matter diffusion metrics would correlate with plasma GFAP levels, as indicated by pre-clinical literature. Consistent with our hypothesis, acute SRC was associated with decreased MD in the left pallidum, increased FA in the right amygdala, and a significantly greater number and volume of subject-specific clusters with increased FA compared to HA. No differences in gray matter volume, cortical thickness, or GFAP were observed between groups. There were no longitudinal changes in any measure across the first month post-SRC. Finally, FA in the right amygdala was inversely correlated with GFAP at T2. These results suggest that gray matter diffusion metrics may be useful in determining the physiological effects of SRC.

Author List

España LY, Lee RM, Ling JM, Jeromin A, Mayer AR, Meier TB

Authors

Ryan M. Lee MD Instructor in the Neurology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Timothy B. Meier PhD Associate Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Amygdala
Athletic Injuries
Brain Concussion
Cerebral Cortex
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
Globus Pallidus
Gray Matter
Humans
Male
Young Adult