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Mild traumatic brain injuries (Mild TBI) – often diagnosed after accidents – have long been controversial. Despite the existence of many symptoms of brain injury, patients diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries are often doubted – or even accused of faking injuries – because of the absence of positive findings on traditional MRI or CT scans. New research being done on American troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan now confirms that many of the soldiers with negative MRI’s and CT scans, but showing signs of injury, are legitimately and structurally injured.
An article published this summer in the New England Journal of Medicine describes how a special M.R.I. technique called Diffusion Tensor Imaging has been used to confirm structural brain injuries in soldiers who showed definite signs of brain injuries, but had negative traditional scans. Diffusion Tensor Imaging measures the movement of water in nerve fibers in the brain. Abnormal movement of water is suggestive of injury. Interestingly, the study findings also suggest that soldiers who were involved in blast injuries without direct impact to the head, also suffered legitimate brain injuries.
Obviously, these study results are critically important for accident victims – and particularly those involved in Florida car accident cases. Although physicians are becoming better educated and more sensitive to the diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injuries every day, insurance companies and lawyers for defendants continue to dispute the existence of these injuries, and often approach these cases on the basis that claims of brain injury are fraudulent — particularly those where there is no direct impact to the skull. As an Orlando area accident attorney, I am hopeful that Diffusion Tensor Imaging will help these maligned people convince others of the legitimacy of their injuries, and hopefully receive justice.
If you have any questions regarding a mild traumatic brain injury as a result of an accident, call Winter Park personal injury lawyer Kim Cullen at 407-565-7386.
