@article{ref1,
title="Interrelationships among neuroimaging biomarkers, neuropsychological test data, and symptom reporting in a cohort of retired National Football League players",
journal="Neurosurgery",
year="2016",
author="Kuhn, Andrew W. and Zuckerman, Scott L. and Solomon, Gary and Casson, Ira",
volume="63",
number="Suppl 1",
pages="173-173",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: Repetitive brain trauma (RBT) in American football has become a topic of recent interest. The objective of this study was to assess the interrelationships among neuroimaging findings with neurocognitive test performance and symptom endorsement in a cohort of retired professional (National Football League [NFL]) football players. <br><br>METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed in 45 retired NFL players. Three neuroimaging parameters were recorded by blinded, board-certified neuroradiologists: (1) the absence or presence of small or large cavum septum pellucidum; (2) a global mean score of fractional anisotropy (FA); and (3) the presence or absence of microhemorrhages (microbleeds). The subjects underwent a battery of 9 paper-and-pencil neuropsychological tests (yielding 12 separate scores), a computerized neurocognitive test, and multiple (4) symptom and depression scales. The associations among the 3 independent neuroimaging results with these outcome measures were assessed using Pearson, Spearman Rank, and Point-Biserial Correlations. <br><br>RESULTS: Data from 45 retired NFL players (average age: 46.7 years) were analyzed. The retirees reported an average of 6.9 (±6.2) concussions and 13.0 (±7.9) sport-related &quot;dings&quot; in the NFL. Assessment of cavum septum pellucidum yielded a negative finding in 10 subjects (22%), while 32 (71%) had a small, and 3 (7%) had a large one. Four (9%) of the subjects had microhemorrhages present and average FA mean was 0.459 (±0.035). Number of sport-related &quot;dings&quot; was correlated with an increased risk of microhemorrhages (r = 0.305, P =.042). The majority (50.8%) of the correlations obtained among the 3 neuroimaging parameters and the neurocognitive/symptom scores were below the threshold of a &quot;small&quot; effect size (r < 0.10). The remaining (49.2%) correlations fell somewhere between &quot;small&quot; and &quot;medium&quot; effect sizes (0.1 < r < 0.3). However, all correlations were statistically nonsignificant. <br><br>CONCLUSION: The current results demonstrate minimal and statistically nonsignificant correlations among neuroimaging, neurocognitive, and symptom scores in a cohort of NFL retirees. The results indicate that, in this cohort, neuroimaging findings do not relate directly to neurocognitive test performance and clinical symptom burden. Although an often-accepted paradigm, associating the severity of structural brain changes with neurocognitive performance and symptom presentation after chronic RBT is complex, may involve other moderating variables, and requires further study.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0148-396X",
doi="10.1227/01.neu.0000489753.67038.ae",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1227/01.neu.0000489753.67038.ae"
}