Abstract
Primary objective: To investigate differences in longitudinal trajectories of ventricle-brain ratio (VBR), a general measure of brain atrophy, between Veterans with and without history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Research design: Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to calculate VBR in 70 Veterans with a history of mTBI and 34 Veterans without such history at two time points approximately 3 and 8 years after a combat deployment. Main outcomes and results: Both groups demonstrated a quadratic relationship between VBR and age that is consistent with normal developmental trajectories. Veterans with history of mTBI had larger total brain volume, but no interaction between mTBI and age was observed for brain volume, ventricular volume, or VBR. Conclusions: In our longitudinal sample of deployed Veterans, mTBI was not associated with gross brain atrophy as reflected by abnormally high VBR or abnormal increases in VBR over time.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1245-1255 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Brain Injury |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 24 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by grant funding from Department of Veterans Affairs (I01RX002171, IK2RX000709, I01RX000622, I01CX001135) and Department of Defense (W81XWH-13-2-0095, W81XWH-08-2-0038) and was conducted as part of the Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (CENC). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this manuscript are those of the authors and should not be construed as an official Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense position, policy or decision, unless so designated by other official documentation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Keywords
- Concussion
- MRI
- mild brain injury
- military
- neurodegeneration