Hoby Hetherington1, Hamada Hamid2, Rebecca Czlapinski2, Jullie Pan1, Faris Bandak3, Geoffrey Ling3, Nihal deLanerolle1
1Neurosurgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; 2Neurology, West Haven VA, West Haven, CT, United States; 3Neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States
Mild traumatic brain injury due to explosive blast exposure has gained attention for its prevalence in recent conflicts and a lack of positive imaging correlates in conventional MRIs. Despite the absence of conventional MRI findings, these patients express a constellation of ongoing deficits including memory dysfunction, migraines, and a variety of behavioral changes. Using high resolution MRSI at 7T we have measured a significant decline in NAA/Ch (p<0.05) from the anterior hippocampi in patients exposed to blast with self-reported memory dysfunction. These findings are consistent with the anatomical localization of memory function (hippocampus and temporal lobe).