Mary C Stephenson1,2, Trina Kok1, Fatima A Nasrallah1, Pamela Boon Li Pun3, Melissa Ai Ling Teo3, Julie Su Li Yeo3, Lu Jia3, Benjamin A Thomas1, Mary K Enci3, and John J Totman1
1Clinical Imaging Research Centre, A*STAR-NUS, Singapore, Singapore, 2Department of Medicine, NUS, Singapore, Singapore, 3Defense Science Organization, Singapore, Singapore
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is identified as the signature injury of soldiers involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mild TBI (mTBI) often goes undetected, meaning vital opportunities for early treatment are missed. In this study we use 31P MRS to investigate whether changes in 31P metabolites can be identified in soldiers at risk of mTBI due to blast overpressure. Measurements of brain volumes and 31P MRS are made at baseline and 1, 3, 7 and 28 days following training with low level explosives. We show a tendency for decreases in Pi/PCr ratio which reach significance 28 days after training.
