Association between Muscle Damage and Head Impacts in High School American Football.

Subconcussive head impacts (SHI), defined as impacts to the cranium that do not result in concussion symptoms, are gaining traction as a major public health concern. The contribution of physiological factors such as physical exertion and muscle damage to SHI-dependent changes in neurological measures remains unknown. A prospective longitudinal study examined the association between physiological factors and SHI kinematics in 15 high school American football players over one season.

Association of Increased Serum S100B Levels With High School Football Subconcussive Head Impacts.

Astrocyte-enriched marker, S100B, shows promise for gauging the severity of acute brain trauma, and understanding subconcussive effects will advance its utility in tracking real-time acute brain damage. The aim of the study was to investigate whether serum S100B elevations were associated with frequency and magnitude of subconcussive head impacts in adolescents. This prospective cohort study of 17 high-school football players consisted of the following 12 time points: pre-season baseline, 5 in-season pre-post games, and post-season.

Oculomotor Response to Cumulative Subconcussive Head Impacts in US High School Football Players: A Pilot Longitudinal Study.

Importance: Repetitive subconcussive head impacts in sports have emerged as a complex public health issue. Most of these head impacts remain asymptomatic yet have the potential to cause insidious neurological deficit if sustained repetitively. Near point of convergence (NPC) values have shown to reflect subclinical neuronal damage; however, the longitudinal pattern of NPC changes in association with subconcussive head impacts remains unclear.