Brain
Injuries
Second Impact Syndrome
Secondly, although far less common, the risk of Second Impact Syndrome, a very serious and even fatal brain injury that may occur even with a relatively mild impact, appears to be particularly significant in young athletes.
A rare disorder, Second Impact Syndrome, occurs when an athlete suffers a concussion and then, within a short time later (usually within one week although it may be longer), receives a second blow to the head before the brain has recovered from the first concussion. It is possible for rapid brain deterioration and even death to occur.
This happens because the brain is still affected from the first injury and the second injury results in rapid swelling and pressure within the skull. This intracranial pressure, if uncontrolled, can lead to death. There have been several episodes of suspected second impact syndrome in South Africa recently.
In the last decade, a larger body of research has focused on the potential long-term consequences of recurrent and undiagnosed concussion. A condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been described. The exact progress of the condition from concussion to potential CTE is unknown and not all cases of concussion will result in chronic deficits.
Changes in Brain Function and Structure After Self-Administered Home Photobiomodulation Treatment in a Concussion Case
Linda L. Chao, Cody Barlow, Mahta Karimpoor, Lew Lim
1. Departments of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
2. VA Advanced Imaging Research Center, San Francisco VA Health Care System, San Francisco, CA, United States
3. Vielight Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common neurological disorder among athletes. Although there are no widely accepted treatments for TBI, new investigational approaches, such as photobiomodulation (PBM), are being tested. PBM is a light therapy that uses red to near-infrared (NIR) light to stimulate, heal, and protect tissue that has been injured or is at risk of dying. Benefits following transcranial PBM treatments in animal models of acute TBI and a small number of chronic TBI patients have been reported. However, the human PBM TBI studies published to date have been based on behavioral assessments. This report describes changes in behavioral and neuroimaging measures after 8 weeks of PBM treatments. The subject was a 23-year professional hockey player with a history of concussions, presumed to have caused his symptoms of headaches, mild anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. He treated himself at home with commercially available, low-risk PBM devices that used light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to emit 810-nm light pulsing at 10 or 40 Hz delivered by an intranasal and four transcranial modules that targeted nodes of the default mode network (DMN) with a maximum power density of 100 mW/cm2. After 8 weeks of PBM treatments, increased brain volumes, improved functional connectivity, and increased cerebral perfusion and improvements on neuropsychological test scores were observed. Although this is a single, sport-related case with a history of concussions, these positive findings encourage replication studies that could provide further validation for this non-invasive, non-pharmacological modality as a viable treatment option for TBI.
A-25 Transcranial Photobiomodulation Treatment Effects In Former Athletes With Repetitive Head Hits
- S W Liebel, P K Johnson, H M Lindsey, H A Russell, E S Hovenden, C Velez, L S Carr, E A Wilde, D F Tate
Jacki Jing, a reality TV star, suffered from a TBI while playing volleyball. She was connected with researchers at Utah’s neurological department and enrolled in a TBI study with the Vielight Neuro. She shares her experience.
Dr. Larry Carr, a former BYU football star and Hall of Famer, faced a decline in his mental health after years of playing football. Desperate for a solution, he and his wife Laurie turned to a novel form of brain stimulation involving NIR energy with the Vielight Neuro Gamma at the Boston V.A. hospital.