Citation

Gardner RC, Hess CP, Brus-Ramer MC, Possin KC, Cohn-Sheehy BI, Kramer JH, Berger M, Yaffe KC, Miller B, Rabinovici GD. J. Neurotrauma 2015; 33(1): 157-161.

Affiliation

UCSF and San Francisco VA Medical Center, Neurology , 4150 Clement St., Neurology #127 , 4150 Clement St., Neurology #127 , San Francisco, California, United States , 94121 , 9179025063 , Raquel C. Gardner ; raquel.gardner@ucsf.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2014.3805

PMID

25970145

Abstract

Prior studies report that cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) is frequent among athletes with a history of repeated traumatic brain injury (TBI), such as boxers. Few studies of CSP in athletes, however, have assessed detailed features of the septum pellucidum in a case-control fashion. This is important because prevalence of CSP in the general population varies widely (2% to 85%) between studies. Furthermore, rates of CSP among American pro-football players have not been previously described. We sought to characterize MRI features of the septum pellucidum in a series of retired pro-football players with a history of repeated concussive/sub-concussive head traumas compared to controls. We retrospectively assessed retired American pro-football players presenting to our memory clinic with cognitive/behavioral symptoms in whom structural MRI was available with slice thickness ≤2mm (n= 17). Each player was matched to a memory clinic control patient with no history of TBI. Scans were interpreted by raters blinded to clinical information and TBI/football history, who measured CSP grade (0-absent, 1-equivocal, 2-mild, 3-moderate, 4-severe) and length according to a standard protocol. 16/17 players (94%) had a CSP graded ≥2 compared to 3/17 controls (18%). CSP was significantly higher grade (p<0.001) and longer in players than controls (mean length ±SD: 10.6mm ±5.4 vs. 1.1mm ±1.3, p<0.001). Among patients presenting to a memory clinic, long high-grade CSP was more frequent in retired pro-football players compared to patients without a history of TBI.

Language: en