Impact of Traumatic Microbleeds on Neuropsychological Outcomes in Patients with a Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> Exam the relationship between TMB and neuropsychological outcomes in patients who have sustained a TBI. <h3>Design</h3> Prospective cohort study of participants with a history of non-penetrating brain injury. Participants were evaluated with neuropsychological and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as early as 30 days and up to 5 years post injury. TMB were identified by a board-certified neuroradiologist. <h3>Setting</h3> The National Institutes of Health. <h3>Participants</h3> Participants with a history of mild, moderate, or severe TBI. <h3>Interventions</h3> Participants underwent 3T MRI of the brain. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> TMB in relation to neuropsychological outcomes. Neuropsychological composite scores were developed to assess various domains of cognition: Processing Speed, Delayed Memory, Executive Functioning, Language, Motor, Spatial, General Fund of Knowledge, Attention/Working Memory, Overall, and Timed Test. <h3>Results</h3> Eighty-one participants age 18-86, (53, 65% male vs. 28 female 35%) with a history of TBI (34 mild, 31 moderate, 16 severe) were enrolled. At baseline 44 participants (54%) had TMB, with an average age of 45 (median 44, IQR 28) and predominantly male (20, 65% male vs. 11 female 35%). Longitudinally, 42 participants (52%) had persistent TMB, ranging from persisting less than a year up to persisting 5 years. Cross-sectionally, there were no significant differences in the neuropsychological composite scores between those with TMB versus those without. Additionally, adjusting for sex, age and TBI severity cross-sectionally did not yield any significant differences in neuropsychological composite scores between participants with and without TMBs. Longitudinally, the presence of TMBs at baseline were not associated with significant changes in neuropsychological composites scores. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Participants with TMBs showed no significant difference in neuropsychological functioning compared to participants without TMBs cross-sectionally or longitudinally. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> Nothing to disclose.