Persistent, long-term cerebral white matter changes after sports-related repetitive head impacts.

Persistent, long-term cerebral white matter changes after sports-related repetitive head impacts.

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INTRODUCTION:Repetitive head impacts (RHI) sustained in contact sports are thought to be necessary for the long-term development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).Our objectives were to: trailmaster challenger 200x 1) characterize the magnitude and persistence of RHI-induced white matter (WM) changes; 2) determine their relationship to kinematic measures of RHI; and 3) explore their clinical relevance.METHODS:Prospective, observational study of 10 Division III college football players and 5 non-athlete controls during the 2011-12 season.All subjects underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), physiologic, cognitive, and balance testing at pre-season (Time 1), post-season (Time 2), and after 6-months of no-contact rest (Time 3).Head impact measures were recorded using helmet-mounted accelerometers.

The percentage of whole-brain WM voxels with significant changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) from Time 1 to 2, and Time 1 to 3 was determined for each subject and correlated to head impacts and clinical measures.RESULTS:Total head impacts for the season ranged from 431-1,850.No athlete suffered a clinically evident concussion.Compared to controls, athletes experienced greater changes in FA and MD from Time 1 to 2 as well as Time 1 to 3; most differences at Time 2 persisted to Time 3.Among athletes, the percentage of voxels with decreased FA from Time 1 to 2 was positively correlated with several helmet impact measures.

The persistence of WM changes from Time 1 to 3 was also associated with changes in serum ApoA1 and S100B autoantibodies.WM changes were not consistently associated with cognition or balance.CONCLUSIONS:A single football season of RHIs without clinically-evident concussion resulted in WM changes that correlated with multiple helmet impact measures and persisted following 6 months of no-contact rest.This harry potter magsafe case lack of WM recovery could potentially contribute to cumulative WM changes with subsequent RHI exposures.