Early Post Traumatic Seizures in Military Personnel Result in Long Term Disability

Abstract

This study is predicated on substantial evidence that early post-traumatic seizures occur frequently and create a metabolic crisis that will lead to cell death of hippocampal tissue among persons who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Our central hypothesis is that early post-traumatic seizures are acutely injurious due to increases in intracranial pressure and acute edema of the hippocampus leading to delayed long term hippocampal atrophy. This represents a unique translational hypothesis that we are uniquely qualified to study. In this study we plan to perform continuous EEG monitoring of military and civilian TBI patients for the initial 7 days after TBI to assess for non-convulsive seizures. This is followed by evaluating these same subjects at 6 months after injury by volumetric MRI of the hippocampus and cognitive testing to assess for disturbances of memory-related cognition and post-traumatic stress. We have begun to study civilian TBI patients in year 1 and have worked on establishing methodology and connectivity and IRB permission at military sites in year 1.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA584091

Entities

People

  • Paul M. Vespa

Organizations

  • UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Brain
  • Brain Injuries
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders
  • Data Analysis
  • Department Of Defense
  • Detection
  • Epilepsy
  • Health Services
  • Hippocampus
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Personnel
  • Monitoring
  • Seizures

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Clinical Trial Research.
  • Neuroscience
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.