Dark Blood Contrast-Enhanced Brain MRI Using Echo-uTRESS.

Background: The widely used magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (MPRAGE) sequence makes enhancing lesions and blood vessels appear bright after gadolinium administration. However, dark blood imaging using T1-weighted Sampling Perfection with Application optimized Contrast using different flip angle Evolution (T1 SPACE) can be advantageous since it improves the conspicuity of small metastases and leptomeningeal disease. As a potential alternative to T1 SPACE, we evaluated a new dark blood sequence called echo-uTRESS (unbalanced T1 Relaxation-Enhanced Steady-State).

Examining later-in-life health risks associated with sport-related concussion and repetitive head impacts: a systematic review of case-control and cohort studies.

Objective: Concern exists about possible problems with later-in-life brain health, such as cognitive impairment, mental health problems and neurological diseases, in former athletes. We examined the future risk for adverse health effects associated with sport-related concussion, or exposure to repetitive head impacts, in former athletes.

Design: Systematic review.

Improved Brain Tumor Conspicuity at 3 T Using Dark Blood, Fat-Suppressed, Dixon Unbalanced T1 Relaxation-Enhanced Steady-State MRI.

Objectives: Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the cornerstone for brain tumor diagnosis and treatment planning. We have developed a novel dual-echo volumetric dark blood pulse sequence called Dixon unbalanced T1 relaxation-enhanced steady-state (uT 1 RESS) that improves the visibility of contrast-enhancing lesions while suppressing the tissue signals from blood vessels and fat. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that Dixon uT 1 RESS would significantly improve the conspicuity of brain tumors compared with magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (MPRAGE), as well as to determine potential limitations of the technique.

National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Reducing Intentional Head-First Contact Behavior in American Football Players.

Objective: To provide evidence-based recommendations for reducing the prevalence of head-first contact behavior in American football players with the aim of reducing the risk of head and neck injuries.

Background: In American football, using the head as the point of contact is a persistent, well-documented, and direct cause of catastrophic head and cervical spine injury. Equally concerning is that repeated head-impact exposures are likely to result from head-first contact behavior and may be associated with long-term neurocognitive conditions such as dementia, depression, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Return to Play Guidelines After Cervical Spine Injuries in American Football Athletes: A Literature-Based Review.

Study Design: Literature-based review.

Objective: We sought to evaluate clinical and case studies related to return to play (RTP) after cervical spine injuries in elite American football athletes and to formulate guidelines to help health care practitioners manage these conditions.

Summary Of Background Data: American football athletes are at unique risk of cervical spine injury and appropriate case-by-case management of cervical spine injuries is necessary for these athletes.

Sport-Related Structural Brain Injury and Return to Play: Systematic Review and Expert Insight.

Background: Sport-related structural brain injury (SRSBI) is intracranial pathology incurred during sport. Management mirrors that of non-sport-related brain injury. An empirical vacuum exists regarding return to play (RTP) following SRSBI.

The effect of dietary supplementation with high- or low-dose omega-3 fatty acid on inflammatory pathology after traumatic brain injury in rats.

This study investigated dietary supplementation as a prophylactic for neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a preclinical model. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats received 30 days of supplementation with either water or two dietary supplements. The first consisted of high-dose omega-3 fatty acid (O3FA) (supplement A) along with vitamin D3 and vitamin E.

Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and Its Monitoring in Medical Diagnostic and in Sports.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is the principal mediator of growth hormone (GH), plays a crucial role in promoting cell growth and differentiation in childhood and continues to have an anabolic effect in adults. IGF-1 is part of a wide network of growth factors, receptors and binding proteins involved in mediating cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Bioavailability of IGF-1 is affected by insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) which bind IGF-1 in circulation with an affinity equal to or greater than that of the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R).

Consensus Recommendations on the Prehospital Care of the Injured Athlete With a Suspected Catastrophic Cervical Spine Injury.

Introduction: Sports participation is among the leading causes of catastrophic cervical spine injury (CSI) in the United States. Appropriate prehospital care for athletes with suspected CSIs should be available at all levels of sport. The goal of this project was to develop a set of best-practice recommendations appropriate for athletic trainers, emergency responders, sports medicine and emergency physicians, and others engaged in caring for athletes with suspected CSIs.

Consensus Recommendations on the Prehospital Care of the Injured Athlete With a Suspected Catastrophic Cervical Spine Injury.

Introduction: Sports participation is among the leading causes of catastrophic cervical spine injury (CSI) in the United States. Appropriate prehospital care for athletes with suspected CSIs should be available at all levels of sport. The goal of this project was to develop a set of best-practice recommendations appropriate for athletic trainers, emergency responders, sports medicine and emergency physicians, and others engaged in caring for athletes with suspected CSIs.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Detects Acute and Subacute Changes in Corpus Callosum in Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury.

There is a critical need for understanding the progression of neuropathology in blast-induced traumatic brain injury using valid animal models to develop diagnostic approaches. In the present study, we used diffusion imaging and magnetic resonance (MR) morphometry to characterize axonal injury in white matter structures of the rat brain following a blast applied via blast tube to one side of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed on acute and subacute phases of pathology from which fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were calculated for corpus callosum (CC), cingulum bundle, and fimbria.

Photostability of Semiconductor Quantum Dots in Response to UV Exposure.

The interest in quantum dots (QDs) and their popularity in life science applications stems from their high photostability and unique optical properties such as superior light absorption. Photostability of semiconductor QDs is reportedly higher than that of organic dyes, but QDs may also be affected by light exposure. The outcome of such exposure may depend on many experimental factors, can lead to either an increase or decrease in the photoluminescent efficiency of QDs and is difficult to predict.

Navigable Channel-Based Trans-Sulcal Resection of Third Ventricular Colloid Cysts: A Multicenter Retrospective Case Series and Review of the Literature.

Background: Developments in frameless neuronavigation and tubular retractors hold the potential for minimizing iatrogenic injury to the overlying cortex and subcortical tracts, with improved access to the ventricular system. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes after resection of third ventricular colloid cysts using an integrated neuronavigation and channel-based approach.

Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective analysis of surgical Outcomes after surgical resection of third ventricular colloid cysts via a transtubular trans-sulcal approach.

Elevations in MicroRNA Biomarkers in Serum Are Associated with Measures of Concussion, Neurocognitive Function, and Subconcussive Trauma over a Single National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Season in Collegiate Football Players.

This prospective controlled observational cohort study assessed the performance of a novel panel of serum microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers on indicators of concussion, subconcussive impacts, and neurocognitive function in collegiate football players over the playing season. Male collegiate student football athletes participating in a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) were enrolled. There were a total of 53 participants included in the study, 30 non-athlete control subjects and 23 male collegiate student football athletes.

A Case Report in Hemorrhagic Stroke: A Complex Disease Process and Requirement for a Multimodal Treatment Approach.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) with or without intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a highly morbid disease process due to the mass effect and secondary injury that occurs upon the surrounding brain. Historically, surgical evacuation has failed to demonstrate improved outcomes in comparison to standard medical therapy likely due to the significant brain trauma when accessing the clot. Recent minimally invasive techniques have proposed a way to improve outcomes by reducing this injury.

The Influence of the Val66Met Polymorphism of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor on Neurological Function after Traumatic Brain Injury.

Functional outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) vary widely across patients with apparently similar injuries. This variability hinders prognosis, therapy, and clinical innovation. Recently, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) that influence outcome after TBI have been identified.

FDDNP-PET Tau Brain Protein Binding Patterns in Military Personnel with Suspected Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy1.

Background: Our group has shown that in vivo tau brain binding patterns from FDDNP-PET scans in retired professional football players with suspected chronic traumatic encephalopathy differ from those of tau and amyloid aggregate binding observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and cognitively-intact controls.

Objective: To compare these findings with those from military personnel with histories of mild traumatic brain injury(mTBI).

Methods: FDDNP-PET brain scans were compared among 7 military personnel and 15 retired players with mTBI histories and cognitive and/or mood symptoms, 24 AD patients, and 28 cognitively-intact controls.

Multicenter Investigation of Channel-Based Subcortical Trans-Sulcal Exoscopic Resection of Metastatic Brain Tumors: A Retrospective Case Series.

Background: Recent advancements have aimed to optimize visualization and minimize insult to healthy cortical and subcortical tissue through the use of tubular-based retractors.

Objective: To investigate outcomes following resection of cerebral metastases using an integrated tubular retraction system with an exoscope and neuronavigation.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective analysis of surgical outcomes in consecutive patients who underwent resection of a brain metastasis using a tubular retraction system and exoscope was performed.

National Football League Head, Neck and Spine Committee's Concussion Diagnosis and Management Protocol: 2017-18 season.

One of the National Football League's (NFL) Head, Neck and Spine Committee's principal goals is to create a 'best practice' protocol for concussion diagnosis and management for its players. The science related to concussion diagnosis and management continues to evolve, thus the protocol has evolved contemporaneously. The Fifth International Conference on Concussion in Sport was held in Berlin in 2016, and guidelines for sports concussion diagnosis and management were revised and refined.

Postmortem Autopsy-Confirmation of Antemortem [F-18]FDDNP-PET Scans in a Football Player With Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Currently, only presumptive diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can be made in living patients. We present a modality that may be instrumental to the definitive diagnosis of CTE in living patients based on brain autopsy confirmation of [F-18]FDDNP-PET findings in an American football player with CTE. [F-18]FDDNP-PET imaging was performed 52 mo before the subject's death.