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Advanced MRI scans can predict concussion recovery success with 82% accuracy
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have been testing out an advanced form of MRI known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which they say can substantially improve existing methods for finding out if someone with a concussion is likely to develop a potentially life-changing hidden disease.
We cant overstate the importance of looking after your brain. One of the biggest causes of concussions is road accidents, with cyclists who dont wear a helmet at the greatest risk. Its not uncommon for victims of concussions to suffer severe fatigue, poor memory, headaches, and mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress for years after the initial incident. Unlike a broken bone, its not easy to see if someone has a broken brain, and patients symptoms can be dismissed or ignored when they seek help.�
Concussions are incredibly common and carry the potential for long-lasting damage
Concussion is the number one neurological condition to affect adults, says Dr Virginia Newcombe, from the University of Cambridges Department of Medicine.
According to the universitys news release, more than 1 million people attend emergency departments in the UK every year with a recent head injury. Its the most common form of brain injury in the world, and 1 in 200 Europeans suffer concussions every year.
Patients who turn up at the emergency room with a head injury go through a standard assessment following the National Institute for Health and Care Excellences head injury guidelines.
If they have bad symptoms, they may go in for a CT (computed tomography) scan. This looks for brain injuries like bruising, bleeding, and swelling. But CT scans dont catch everything.
The problem with simple CT scans
CT scans identify brain issues in less than 10% of concussions. So far so good, right? As long as they catch the right brains, and none slip through the cracks.
The problem is that between 30% and 40% of those concussion patients go on to experience significant symptoms that can last for years and be potentially life-changing, according to the researchers.
These include fatigue, memory loss, ongoing headaches, and mental health issues such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Clearly, these patients would benefit from a better understanding that their concussion had left them with a long-lasting brain injury. But whats happening is that theyre being discharged from the hospital with nothing more than a piece of paper telling them what symptoms to look out for.�
Health services dont have the resources to routinely bring back every patient for a follow-up, Dr Newcombe emphasizes, which is why we need a way of identifying those patients at greatest risk of persistent symptoms.
Better scans can predict chance of long-term brain injury
Fortunately, a better scan exists.
Dr Newcombe and her colleagues published a paper in eClinicalMedicine (part of The Lancet) on August 8, 2024, showing that an advanced form of MRI scan called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can massively improve upon the work currently being done by CT scans.
They studied data from more than 1,000 concussion patients and found that 38% of them had an incomplete recovery after three months. Using DTI, they correctly predicted these outcomes in 82 cases out of 100.
Current methods for assessing an individuals outlook following head injury are not good enough, Dr Newcombe said. But using DTI [&] can help us make much more accurate assessments.
She called the research urgently needed, and said she and her team will be working hard on how to bring DTI testing into clinical practice i.e. into the real world.
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