国际英语新闻:New Imaging Technique Reveals Mild Brain Injuries in Soldiers

MacDonald says researchers then saw faint but discernable changes in water flow, or diffusion, in follow-up tensor scans six to 12 months later, after the soldiers had returned to St. Louis. "This diffusion of water is in line with what we expect for injury and its progression over time.  Versus something that would, say, be pre-existing," he said.

Researchers noted white matter abnormalities in the tensor images of 18 of 63 patients in the study who had been diagnosed with concussions.  They were not seen in 21 patients diagnosed with other types of injuries.

A diagnosis of TBI is controversial because experts are not sure whether the symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury are due to disruptions in brain chemistry, structural changes, physiological factors or a combination of all three.

At this point, MacDonald says experts are unsure what role, if any, the white matter abnormalities play in factors like altered attention, memory and, importantly, post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition which plagues many returning veterans.

MacDonald says studies continue to explore whether diffusion imaging could be a useful tool in helping to identify the source of the lingering effects of traumatic brain injury. “Long term, years down the line, possibly this could be something that would be an assisted diagnostic tool.  But that’s really something that’s outside the scope of this current manuscript; but definitely hope long term," he said.

An article describing the discovery brain abnormalities in people with mild blast-related traumatic brain injury is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.