Cognitive disorder in brain concussion

This paper presented original study results concerning the prevalence and clinical characteristics of cognitive impairment associated with brain concussion. The cognitive functions of 80 consecutive patients （mean age = 37.40±1l.74years; 50 men and 30 women） admitted to the hospital with brain concussions were evaluated. Their cognitive scores were compared with 40 age- and education-matched healthy volunteers without history of cranial trauma. Cognitive impairment without dementia was found in 93% of the patients. Cognitive impairment in brain concussion was also characterized by prominent cognitive slowness （bradyphrenia）, concentration decrease, free recall insufficiency, and visual-spatial dysfunction. Age and severity of anxiety significantly influence the cognitive performance of patients.

Strategies to avoid a missed diagnosis of co-occurring concussion in post-acute patients having a spinal cord injury

Research scientists and clinicians should be aware that missed diagnoses of mild-moderate traumatic brain injuries in post-acute patients having spinal cord injuries may approach 60-74% with certain risk factors, potentially causing clinical consequences for patients, and confounding the results of clinical research studies. Factors leading to a missed diagnosis may include acute trauma-related life-threatening issues, sedation/intubation, subtle neuropathology on neuroimaging, failure to collect Glasgow Coma Scale scores or duration of posttraumatic amnesia, or lack of validity of this information, and overlap in neuro-cognitive symptoms with emotional responses to spinal cord injuries. Strategies for avoiding a missed diagnosis of mild-moderate traumatic brain injuries in patients having a spinal cord injuries are highlighted in this perspective.

Postural control deficits identify lingering post-concussion neurological deficits

Concussion,or mild traumatic brain injury,incidence rates have reached epidemic levels and impaired postural control is a cardinal symptom.The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the linear and non-linear assessments of post-concussion postural control.The current acute evaluation for concussion utilizes the subjective balance error scoring system(BESS) to assess postural control.While the sensitivity of the overall test battery is high,the sensitivity of the BESS is unacceptably low and,with repeat administration,is unable to accurately identify recovery.Sophisticated measures of postural control,utilizing traditional linear assessments,have identified impairments in postural control well beyond BESS recovery.Both assessments of quiet stance and gait have identified lingering impairments for at least 1 month post-concussion.Recently,the application of non-linear metrics to concussion recovery have begun to receive limited attention with the most commonly utilized metric being approximate entropy(Ap En).Ap En,most commonly in the medial-lateral plane,has successfully identified impaired postural control in the acute post-concussion timeframe even when linear assessments of instrumented measures are equivalent to healthy pre-injury values;unfortunately these studies have not gone beyond the acute phase of recovery.One study has identified lingering deficits in postural control,utilizing Shannon and Renyi entropy metrics,which persist at least through clinical recovery and return to participation.Finally,limited evidence from two studies suggest that individuals with a previous history of a single concussion,even months or years prior,may display altered Ap En metrics.Overall,non-linear metrics provide a fertile area for future study to further the understanding of postural control impairments acutely post-concussion and address the current challenge of sensitive identification of recovery.