The prevalence of concussion has been increasing among children and adolescents over the past decade. There is also a heightened awareness about the long term impact of concussion, particularly among high-school and college athletes. Recent studies have observed high rates of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) among professional athletes in the NFL. These observations have prompted clinicians to consider the use of diagnostic testing to assess the severity and prognosis of children suffering concussive injuries.
This week we are early releasing a systematic review (10.1542/peds.2017-3406) by Schmidt et al. which evaluates the use of neuroimaging as a means to assess children who have experienced a concussion. The study considered the following questions: 1) What changes are evident on neuroimaging after concussion?, 2) are differences evident on neuroimaging related to behavior?, and 3) are neuroimaging findings related to age, injury type, or pattern of recovery from concussion?
I’ll not reveal the results of this article in this blog, but give you a heads-up to read the study yourself to learn how neuroimaging is being used to assess severity and in turn predict long-term behavioral and other neurologic outcomes among children with concussions. Given the public concern surrounding this topic, pediatricians are likely to face questions from families regarding whether imaging should be performed for their child who sustained a concussion. This article will provide useful information to inform discussions around whether the use of imaging for concussion is ready for prime-time, and how imaging might help provide anticipatory guidance to your patients and their families who find themselves dealing with this type of traumatic head injury.
