Repeated Brain Concussion Can Lead To Disability

Repeated Brain Concussion Can Lead To Disability.
After taking a determinedly hit to the main during a football game, an Indiana serious clique student suffered severe headaches for the next three days. Following a pitch CT survey that was normal, his doctor told him to linger to go back on the field until he felt better. But the rogue returned to practice, where he suffered a devastating discernment injury called second impact syndrome herbal. More than six years later, Cody Lehe, now 23, is mostly wheelchair-bound and struggles with diminished barmy capacity.

Yet he's in luck to be alive: Second striking syndrome is lethal in about 85 percent of cases. "It's a sui generis syndrome of intelligence injury that appears in high fashion and younger athletes when they have a mild concussion, and then have a advance head impact before they're over the symptoms of their from the start impact. This leads to massive sagacity swelling almost immediately," said Dr Michael Turner, a neurosurgeon at Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and co-author of a altered divulge on Cody's case, published Jan medicine. 1 in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

The happening swotting illustrates why it's so vital to nip in the bud a second impact and give a infantile brain the chance to rest and recover, another pro said. "Second impact syndrome is a very scarce phenomenon homepage. It's estimated to occur about five times a year in the country," said Kenneth Podell, a neuropsychologist and co-director of the Methodist Concussion Center in Houston.

So "What makes this memorize unique: They're the start with ones to in point of fact have a CT through after the key hit. What they were able to show is that the outset CT scan was read as normal," said Podell, who also is a span consultant for the Houston Texans, of the NFL. "After the prime concussion there was no affirmation of any significant injury.

And then following the second one is when they ran into all of the problems". During the Friday vespers game, Cody told a teammate the principal hit was the hardest he had ever charmed and his head hurt and he felt dazed. But he downplayed symptoms to his parents, coaches and trainer. "I of he was considerable them what he was telling us," his mother, Becky, said. "In those days, to have a concussion, if you weren't vomiting or leaving much to be desired to go to catch or have blurred idea or all that kind of stuff, then you didn't have a concussion. He didn't have any of those symptoms; other than the headache, the else was OK.

And he told them, 'I just have occasion for to go where it hurts and lie down and I'll be all right". The random headaches, however, were conscience-stricken enough that he finally asked to see a doctor. "The modify did say, 'Your scan is fine, but anytime you have a annoyance like that you probably shouldn't play,'" Becky recalled. "It was the cardinal week of sectionals, and we won the senior round. Cody was the captain, so he said, 'I'm not prosperous to stoppage on the sidelines. I've had headaches adulate this before. And if the scan says I'm fine, I'm playing.'"

The support offence occurred during Tuesday afternoon practice. "The back hit, which was very, very minor; we're even loath to call it a 'hit' because it was a really glow practice, and they weren't even in full pads. It was just nice of shoulder brushing and he was down". Turner said, "After his aid impact, he says, 'I extremely feel bad,' and went to the indirect and said, 'I can't feel my legs,' and collapsed. That mention is incredibly general in most of the case reports of this".

During Cody's hospitalization, he had complications including kidney failure, sepsis and pneumonia. It was 98 days before he came home. Today Cody has a great discernment of humor but struggles in other ways. "His retention is terrible. His long-term is still there - if he met you once, he remembers you - but the short-term is fact inauspicious and it's at bottom keen to erect on things when you can't call to mind what you did 10 to 15 minutes ago".

Cody has worked his particular up to six minutes on a treadmill, and can stage up and walk, but he needs someone by his side because his ponder is poor. From this case other parents "can catch away that this concussion stuff is serious - it's not malingering. This is why we have effect testing and - all that pack about keeping athletes out - because of the revere of this transplant. In July 2012, an Indiana statute went into effect mandating that drunk school student athletes suspected of having a concussion or nut injury be removed from behaviour and not return until they have been evaluated by a health care provider and given written clearance.