Assessment of fractional anisotropy outcomes in combat sport athletes with mild traumatic brain injury

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWThe practice of combat sports increases the risk of suffering white matter injuries. That is why, it is required the early damage detection to determine to what extent the athlete may be active preserving their performance and health status. The integrity of the white matter can be quantitatively characterized in diffusion tensor images, using fractional anisotropy. This study aims at characterizing the fractional anisotropy of white matter injuries in combat athletes that are exposed to repetitive trauma and also, to detect changes in fractional anisotropy between cerebral hemispheres with and without lesions. It is proposed a global and structural analysis of the hemispheres, as well as the selection of ROI in the lesions. 14 athletes, from Boxing, Karate and Taekwondo sports, participated. The sample was divided into two groups of seven subjects each: Injured (23.428{+/-}4.157 years old) and Healthy (24.285{+/-}5.023 years old) paired by sport denomination. Diffusion tensor images were used to obtain FA values in the analysis of the hemispheres and lesions. Global and structural analysis of the hemispheres did not detect the presence of white matter lesions; however, the use of ROI selection permitted maximum approximation of the injuries location. It also improved the breakdown of FA values as it allows a local analysis of the lesion. As an additional result, there were found ROIs values, FAmed = 0.454{+/-}0.062, which exceed the average fractional anisotropy of the white matter. The cohesion of acute and chronic phase lesions were found in the same subject. The apparently contradictory results in FA values are related to the stage of the lesions.