Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and a major global health concern. In the United States, individuals of Black or African American racial identity experience disproportionately higher rates of TBI and suffer from worse postinjury outcomes. Contemporary research agendas have largely overlooked or excluded Black populations, resulting in the continued marginalization of Black patient populations in TBI studies, thereby limiting the generalizability of ongoing research to patients in the United States and around the world. ⋯ Studies identified statistical variation in S100ß, ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1, amyloid-ß, and tau across participant race, either at baseline or following TBI. Additionally, several studies identified genetic polymorphisms associated with TBI outcomes related to apolipoprotein E, ANKK1, and COMT polymorphism and TBI outcome and identified allele frequency variation across population ancestry. The role of race and ancestry on biomarkers associated with TBI outcome remains indeterminate and subsequent work is still required to understand the implications for patients with TBI.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2025
ReviewFunctional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Post-Traumatic Headache: A Systematic Review.
To evaluate existing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on post-traumatic headache (PTH) following traumatic brain injury (TBI). ⋯ We conducted a systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases from inception to February 1, 2024. Eligible fMRI studies were required to include adult participants diagnosed with acute or persistent PTH post-TBI in accordance with any edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. We identified five eligible fMRI studies: two on acute PTH and three on persistent PTH. These studies assessed resting-state functional connectivity involving comparisons with one or more of the following groups: people with migraine, those with mild TBI but no PTH, and healthy controls. In acute PTH, studies focused exclusively on functional connectivity between the periaqueductal gray or hypothalamus and other brain regions. In persistent PTH, evidence of altered functional connectivity was identified primarily within cingulate, sensorimotor, and visual regions, indicating a hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli in PTH. Despite these insights, the fMRI data remains sparse and is limited by inconsistent results and small samples. The paucity of fMRI studies on PTH limits our understanding of its neurobiological basis. The available evidence suggests that alterations in functional connectivity occur within brain areas involved in emotional and sensory discriminative aspects of pain processing. However, inconsistent results and small sample sizes underscore a critical need for larger, more rigorous fMRI studies. Future studies should also consider using task-based fMRI to investigate possible hypersensitivity to different sensory stimuli in PTH after TBI.
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Curr Pain Headache Rep · Jan 2025
ReviewStructural Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Post-Traumatic Headache: A Systematic Review.
To evaluate the available studies on structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of post-traumatic headache (PTH). ⋯ A systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases (from inception to February 1, 2024) identified nine relevant structural MRI studies. These studies included adult participants diagnosed with acute or persistent PTH in adherence with any edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. Eight studies focused on PTH attributed to mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), while one examined PTH after whiplash injury. The comparison groups consisted of healthy individuals, people with mild TBI (without PTH), and/or individuals with migraine. The eligible studies assessed brain morphometry (n = 7), both cortical morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging (n = 1), or used structural brain images for machine learning (n = 1). The main findings indicated alterations in brain regions involved in affective pain processing and cognitive functions. However, the results were largely incongruent, likely due to small sample sizes and methodologic issues. Structural MRI has shown alterations in the brains of people with PTH, particularly in regions responsible for affective pain processing, cognitive control, and visual processing. These findings align well with the clinical features commonly observed in PTH. Nevertheless, most findings were inconsistent across studies, highlighting the need for methodologic standardization and investigations with larger sample sizes.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of health loss and disabilities globally, burdening health care systems. Mild TBI is a common cause of emergency department visits. Computed tomography (CT) scans are the mainstay for acute TBI imaging. ⋯ These findings indicate that S100B analysis could minimize the need for unnecessary CT scans in individuals with mild TBI. The test's diagnostic accuracy improves when the S100B analysis is done within 3 h of the injury. However, further research is warranted to validate its superiority to other biomarkers before considering it the standard routine for managing mild TBI.
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In this article, we explore the current literature on traumatic brain injury (TBI) in survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and evaluate the barriers to studying this vulnerable population. ⋯ Research on TBI and IPV is limited by multiple factors including mistrust of the healthcare system by survivors, lack of awareness by community advocates, and insufficient funding by public entities. As such, most investigations are small population, retrospective, and qualitative. Quantitative research addressing the scope of TBI in IPV found reported rates ranging from 19 to 100% of survivors experiencing neurological injury at the hands of a violent partner. The principals of trauma-informed healthcare should guide both neurological care for survivors as well as future studies on TBI and IPV, with an emphasis on community-based participatory research.