Mission Connect Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Integrated Clinical Protocol

Summary

The purpose of this study is to improve the ability to diagnose problems after mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and to test a drug that may improve the outcome from these injuries. Of the more than 1.5 million people who experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year in the United States, as many as 75% sustain a mild TBI which can cause long-term or permanent impairments/disabilities in a significant proportion of patients. In addition, traumatic brain injury has become a signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For people with these injuries, it is difficult to determine whether symptoms are due to the head injury or another condition, such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In this project, there are 3 observational studies that involve testing of mental functions and behavior, imaging of the brain with special x-ray procedures, and blood samples to look at glandular function, which may be affected by head injury. A fourth study is a test of a drug, atorvastatin, which may provide protection for injured brain cells and improve outcome. By collecting and analyzing the information from these tests, it will be possible to make the process of diagnosing mild TBI or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more precise, and also to see if atorvastatin is a helpful drug for patients with MTBI.

Timeline

Start

2010-02

Primary completion

2015-03

Completion

2015-06

Publications

• Background King NS, Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Moss NE, Wade DT. The Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire: a measure of symptoms commonly experienced after head injury and its reliability. J Neurol. 1995 Sep;242(9):587-92. doi: 10.1007/BF00868811.
• Background Connor KM, Davidson JR. Development of a new resilience scale: the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depress Anxiety. 2003;18(2):76-82. doi: 10.1002/da.10113.
• Background Ware JE Jr., Kosinski M, Turner-Bowker DM, Gandek B. How to Score Version 2 of the SF-12v2® Health Survey [With a Supplement Documenting SF-12® Health Survey] Lincoln, RI: QualityMetric Incorporated, 2002
• Background Weathers F, Litz B, Herman D, Huska J, Keane T. The PTSD Checklist [PCL]: Reliability, Validity, and Diagnostic Utility. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, San Antonio, TX., October 1993
• Background Radloff LS. The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. App Psychol Meas. 1977;1:385-401.
• Robertson CS, McCarthy JJ, Miller ER, Levin H, McCauley SR, Swank PR. Phase II Clinical Trial of Atorvastatin in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. J Neurotrauma. 2017 Apr 1;34(7):1394-1401. doi: 10.1089/neu.2016.4717. Epub 2017 Feb 27.

Drugs

Indications