News From the Cause
Army tries new brain scans to hunt blast effects (MSNBC)
May 24, 2011
After a mortar exploded next to Spc. James Saylor last year in Afghanistan, he underwent a series of scans to see how the explosion affected his brain. Standard CT scans showed no obvious signs of damage, but his symptoms were impossible to ignore.
The 31-year-old father of two was quick to anger and had vivid nightmares and short-term memory loss. So his doctors at the Army's Fort Campbell tried a brain imaging procedure more commonly used to study dementia and found decreased levels of blood flow in some areas of his brain.
"What's interesting here is that we are seeing things here that we can't see in their standard CT scan," said Maj. Andrew Fong, chief of radiology at the post's Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. "We also can't see it on a traditional MRI."
The scan, called single-photon emission computerized tomography or SPECT, produces data about the level of perfusion, or blood flow inside the brain, which is rendered in colors from red and white to blue and grey. The results helped doctors confirm their diagnosis of a brain injury and determine treatment.
Since 2000, the military estimates more than 200,000 soldiers have mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, which has become the signature wound from extended guerrilla wars. But the military is finding these wounds created by improvised explosive devices can be as hard to catch as they are to treat.
While normal CT scans can find contusions and brain bruising, more sophisticated technology is needed to help radiologists and neurologists determine more subtle changes to the brain, Fong said.
Fong said while the SPECT scan has been used to study dementia and Alzheimer's, it's underused in the military. Fort Campbell is one of only two military installations to use the scan to study traumatic head injuries and concussions caused by war, he said.
"We're basically looking at soldier's brain function and we are noticing a decline in brain function in certain areas of the brain," Fong said. "Standard equipment and standard software shows no abnormality most of the time."
In the scans, colors correspond to the level of blood flow, with white and red showing areas of high perfusion and darker areas showing low perfusion. Some more active areas of the brain naturally are "hotter" than other parts and age can also slow down blood flow, Fong said. click here to view more
