This article is written by Douglas Smith, MD, president of Musculoskeletal Imaging Consultants.
Head injuries are a ubiquitous part of competitive sports and sports medicine. The annual incidence of mild traumatic brain injury in football ranges from 4-20 percent and there is a much higher rate of a second brain injury in the first two to three weeks following the first concussion during the recovery phase when a second concussion can result in death from Second Impact Syndrome (SIS). Recent episodes of high profile athletes with head have caught the attention of sports media, the general public, athletes and those that care for them (parents, agents, fans, sports franchises and insurance companies). Repeated concussive episodes can produce long term adverse effects including mental deterioration, depression or death.
Until recently, neuropsychological testing was the only method for evaluating concussions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to evaluate the effects of a concussive head injury on vulnerable areas of the injured brain. The injured athlete is stimulated by a series of visual and auditory stimuli and elicited responses are obtained that stimulate portions of the brain that have a different appearance in the post-traumatized brain than normal brain. fMRI is being used to evaluate high profile athletes where there is a high economic or competitive need for the athlete to resume high impact sporting activities but also a need to objectify the impact on the athlete’s brain from recent or cumulative head injuries (i.e. professional or elite amateur athletes). fMRI is not available on all MRI scanners and requires additional equipment and neuroradiologists with additional training and experience to render an accurate opinion of the specialized MRI images.
"Teleradiology has revolutionized how we practice sports medicine," says David Schmidt MD, San Antonio Spurs team physician.
Explore how your practice can leverage sports medicine Cloud computing to improve the efficiency of your sports medicine practice. Real time, online consultation with your personal expert sports medicine radiologist is like having your own personal imaging expert right in your office.
Head injuries are a ubiquitous part of competitive sports and sports medicine. The annual incidence of mild traumatic brain injury in football ranges from 4-20 percent and there is a much higher rate of a second brain injury in the first two to three weeks following the first concussion during the recovery phase when a second concussion can result in death from Second Impact Syndrome (SIS). Recent episodes of high profile athletes with head have caught the attention of sports media, the general public, athletes and those that care for them (parents, agents, fans, sports franchises and insurance companies). Repeated concussive episodes can produce long term adverse effects including mental deterioration, depression or death.
Until recently, neuropsychological testing was the only method for evaluating concussions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to evaluate the effects of a concussive head injury on vulnerable areas of the injured brain. The injured athlete is stimulated by a series of visual and auditory stimuli and elicited responses are obtained that stimulate portions of the brain that have a different appearance in the post-traumatized brain than normal brain. fMRI is being used to evaluate high profile athletes where there is a high economic or competitive need for the athlete to resume high impact sporting activities but also a need to objectify the impact on the athlete’s brain from recent or cumulative head injuries (i.e. professional or elite amateur athletes). fMRI is not available on all MRI scanners and requires additional equipment and neuroradiologists with additional training and experience to render an accurate opinion of the specialized MRI images.
"Teleradiology has revolutionized how we practice sports medicine," says David Schmidt MD, San Antonio Spurs team physician.
Explore how your practice can leverage sports medicine Cloud computing to improve the efficiency of your sports medicine practice. Real time, online consultation with your personal expert sports medicine radiologist is like having your own personal imaging expert right in your office.
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