Awareness of brain injuries rises
MANY INSTANCES OF INJURY IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS DRAW ATTENTION TO TREATMENT
Head trauma leading to a concussion (injury to the brain) is such a common injury that we have a variety of colloquial expressions to describe it. However, behind colourful phrases like having your bell rung, your brain rattled, or your eggs scrambled, is a potentially dangerous truth. Even minor head and brain trauma can create serious, lifelong complications — a scenario most recently illustrated by hockey superstar Sidney Crosby and his battle with multiple, career-threatening concussions.
Perhaps the only silver lining in Crosby’s high-profile injuries is a growing understanding that any head trauma, from mild to severe, poses health risks. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability and less severe injury can cause symptoms that range from temporary to permanent, including memory loss, vision and hearing problems, impaired thinking, and personality or emotional changes.
Children who play contact sports or experience a blow to the head can be at significant risk. According to Parachute Canada, thirty per cent of all traumatic brain injuries are sustained by children and youth, often during sports and recreation. “There’s greater awareness that protective equipment is important and that signs of brain injury may be subtle,” says Dr. William Yee, a clinical associate professor of radiology at Vancouver General Hospital and the Medical Imaging Director at False Creek Healthcare. “We have a heightened awareness of it and we want to diagnose it confidently.”
To detect the subtle signs of brain injury, physicians and radiologists rely on sophisticated diagnostic technologies, including Computed Tomography (CT) scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems. While CT is the tool of choice for assessing acute trauma, MRI is ideal for lingering injuries and ongoing issues.
As the “Crosby effect” clearly illustrates, many people associate head injuries with athletics, but ordinary falls are actually the leading cause of TBI among all age groups. Vehicle collisions, physical assaults, and workplace accidents are also common sources of TBI.
During an MRI, the patient lies inside what is essentially a large, strong magnet while radio waves send signals through the body. “The image quality of an MRI system depends on both the amount of information provided by the signal and the field strength of the magnet,” says Yee, adding that “field strength is measured Teslas (T). Most commonly used MRI systems measure at 1.5T, but more advanced systems can now measure at 3.0T, which is twice the strength. The better the image, the easier it is to see subtle damage more clearly so it’s particularly good for concussion assessment.”
At Vancouver’s False Creek Healthcare Centre, the medical imaging team takes advantage of the only 3.0T MRI in clinical use in BC. The system recently went through a major upgrade to provide faster scanning with even clearer, high definition images. “For neuroradiology, or imaging the brain and spinal cord,” says Yee, “3T is ideal because it has great sensitivity for detecting micro-bleeding in the head that usually occurs when patients have undergone trauma.” A 3.0T MRI is also excellent for diagnosing seizure disorders and assessing soft tissue, including muscles, ligaments, breasts, and blood vessels, says Yee.