It’s not surprising that the effects of traumatic brain injury on men and women are different. A new study published in the Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine well documents these differences. Researchers at Tulane School of Medicine designed a study to determine the factors that predispose female athletes to more severe concussions than their male counterparts. The researchers performed a systematic review of the literature, finding 25 studies that met the inclusion criteria that examined the effects of concussive and sub-concussive head impacts in female athletes of all age ..read more

I have often written about the increased risk that individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury for suffering further neurologic injury, disease or disorder. A new study published in JAMA Neurology once again highlights the increased risk among individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. The study is entitled, “Head Injury and Long-term Mortality Risk in Community-Dwelling Adults” and is published in JAMA Neurology. The objective of the study was to “evaluate the association of head injury with long-term all-cause mortality risk among community-dwelling adults with cons ..read more

Another favorable DTI decision has been made in Meadors v. D’Agostino, a case from the United States District Court, Middle District of Louisiana (October 29, 2020). This case arose out of a car crash where the plaintiff was struck by an 18-wheeler. Because of the crash, plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury among other injuries. In support of his damage claim, plaintiff sought the care of a neurologist and neuropsychologist. Plaintiff was diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome marked by memory and attention lapses.       Plaintiff underwent an MRI with dif ..read more

A new study was recently released by the researchers involved with Track-TBI. The Track-TBI studies involve patients with traumatic brain injury who have been seen at 18 Level I trauma centers in the United States from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2018. This most recent study published in JAMA Network Open was designed to look at two-week and six-month recovery outcomes in a cohort of patients with mild TBI, a Glasgow Coma Score of 15, and a negative CT scan. The study included 991 participants, of which 64% were male and 36% were female. The participants were followed at both two weeks an ..read more

In defending pediatric traumatic brain injury cases, defense experts often allege that the pediatric TBI survivor did not sustain any permanent injuries based on the antiquated philosophy that due to neuroplasticity children’s brains heal themselves. This misguided opinion was debunked in a recent study from Israel where researchers sought to evaluate the prevalence of persistent post-concussion syndrome in children 6-60 months after a mild traumatic brain injury. The authors noted the prevalence of persistent post-concussion syndrome among children was not well known. Two-hundred and five chi ..read more

It’s an all-too-common assumption that the symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) last only three to six months, and this misunderstanding can make it more difficult to claim the compensation you’re entitled to after experiencing a TBI. However, a recent study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma found persistent and ongoing symptoms in individuals who suffered a TBI—in many cases, these symptoms were present a full year after their accidents. The study In the recently published paper “Symptom Frequency and Persistence in the First Year after Traumatic Brain Injury: A TRACK-TBI Study,” a ..read more

If you’ve suffered a mild traumatic brain injury (mild TBI) as the result of an accident, you may be required to provide evidence of this injury in order to collect the insurance payments needed for medical care or pursue the compensation you’re entitled to through personal injury lawsuits. A pair of recent rulings have upheld the use of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) as evidence for brain injuries including mild TBIs. These rulings help to set a precedent for the use of DTI in cases involving mild TBI and may make it easier to pursue compensation for accident-related brain injuries in the fut ..read more

It has been known for some time there is an increased risk of neurologic decline following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). A new study published in PLOS ONE adds further proof. In a recent study, epidemiologists reported a 56% increased risk of veterans with mild traumatic brain injury developing Parkinson’s disease within 12 years post-injury. According to the researchers, “the goal of the study was to obtain evidence for premature cognitive decline in young veterans with a positive mTBI by comparing their cognitive scores against veterans without mTBI, healthy non-veteran controls and ol ..read more

There’s been another victory for plaintiffs and the admissibility of diffusion tensor imaging to confirm a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania rejected a Daubert motion filed by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. In this case, plaintiff was injured when an employee of defendant Goodyear threw a large tire over a railing from the second floor, striking the plaintiff in the back of his head and neck. Plaintiff was evaluated by Randall Benson, M.D., an expert in behavioral neurology and functional neuroimaging. Dr. Ben ..read more

Representing children who have sustained a traumatic brain injury can be challenging. Because the brain does not fully mature until around the age of 25, it is difficult to predict the child’s chances of full recovery. The antiquated view was that due to brain elasticity, children who sustain mild traumatic brain injuries will fully recover. According to evidence in a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, that is not the case. The study examined the risk of concussion in children who had a previous history of having sustained a concussion. The researchers utilized a ..read more