An advanced MRI screening found brain damage in more retired NFL players than did normal MRI scans, according to a presentation Monday.
For the study, 40 retired NFL players went through advanced neuro-imaging with a special type of MRI called a diffusion tensor MRI (DTI), which looks for damage in the neural pathways of the brain rather than examining just the structure of the brain itself. Players also underwent neuro-psychological testing to measure their attention and concentration, researchers said.
The findings from the small study were presented Monday at the annual meeting for the American Academy of Neurology, but they have not yet been published, and ABC News was provided only with an abstract rather than a full study. The lead author of the study, Dr. Francis Conidi, is with the Florida Center for Headache and Sport Neurology.
The retired players ranged between 27 to 56 years old, and played for an average of seven years. On average, the players had 8.1 concussions during their careers and 12 players reported multiple sub-concussive hits, which were not diagnosed as full concussions.
By examining how players’ brains appeared under the specialized MRI, the researchers found evidence that more of them had suffered severe head injuries than previously believed. While the conventional MRI detected evidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in just 30 percent of the players, the advanced MRI showed evidence of TBI in approximately 42 percent of players.
The study also showed that the longer a player’s career, the higher the likelihood that the DTI revealed brain damage.
“This technology has been around for quite some time, about fifteen years,” said Lenox Hill Hospital neurologist Dr. Gayatri Devi of the DTI, noting that it looks at “connections between neurons, and is more precise in terms of looking for disruptions in those connections.”
While it is notable that this DTI method detected injuries in more retired players, Devi advised approaching these findings with caution.
For one thing, the study was performed in a very small number of players, meaning more research will be needed to make broader conclusions, said Devi, who was not involved in the study presented Monday.
Source-ABC
