2019 Sports Concussion Conference Background Both headache and CI are common sequelae of concussion that have Abstracts been associated with prolonged recovery. Independent of head injury, CI is a known predictor of headache pain [1]. However, the relationship Rationale and design for a randomized, single-center, between CI and headache in a post-concussion population is less clear. double-blind, sham-controlled study of non-invasive vagus This is an important relationship to explore since headaches are one of nerve stimulation for treatment of post-traumatic headache the most common and debilitating post-concussive symptoms. Bert Vargas, MD, FAAN; Eric Liebler; Stephen Bunt; Charlene Supent-Bell Design/Methods Objective Retrospective databank analysis was conducted of 174 participants be- Evaluate the efficacy and safety of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation tween the ages of 13–84 (M =37SD = 19) recruited from an in- (nVNS) for the treatment of post-traumatic headache (PTH). terdisciplinary concussion clinic (M =295SD = 609 days post-injury). Near Background point convergence (NPC) and subjective headache severity were obtained Worldwide, ;69 million people per year sustain a traumatic brain injury by a neurologist during routine clinical visits. Near point convergence was “ ” (TBI), many of whom develop PTH. Clinicians often treat PTH with dichotomized: >5 cm being CI, and <5 normal. Current headache severity drugs approved for primary headache disorders, and many patients self- was measured using a self-report pain severity scale ranging from 0 (none) treat with over-the-counter agents but have inadequate pain relief. There to 10 (most severe). Spearman rank-order correlation was used in order to has been little study of therapies for PTH, and safe, effective treatments elucidate the relationship between headache severity and CI. are needed. Results Design/Methods Results suggest only a weak relationship between post-concussion This randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel-group pilot headache severity and NPC status that failed to reach statistical signif- study is enrolling adults who present 1–4 weeks after a head injury, meet icance (r = 0.171, p = 0.098). NPC status explained only 3% of the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition (ICHD-3) variance in headache severity. criteria for acute headache attributed to mild TBI, and have ≥2 headaches/ Conclusions week with a migraine or probable migraine phenotype. After a 2-week run- The results of this study suggest that headache and NPC measurements in period, subjects are randomly assigned (1:1 allocation) to receive daily following concussion are very weakly associated. Given the episodic preventive therapy and as-needed acute treatment with nVNS or a sham nature of headaches, it may be that statistically significant correlations device. Preventive therapy consists of two 120-second stimulations 3 are not evident unless there is a certain headache severity at time of NPC times daily. Acute treatment comprises 2 stimulations at headache onset measurement. Future studies are needed in order to determine whether and 2 stimulations 20 minutes after the start of initial treatment. Subjects and to what extent injury severity or patient demographic characteristics are not to use acute rescue medication for 120 minutes post-treatment. mediate this relationship. One North American site will enroll ≤80 subjects. The expected duration is 12 months (enrollment, 9 months; participation, 14 weeks). Study Supported By: University of Florida. Disclosures: Dr. Datta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jaffee has nothing to disclose. Results Grant support from NCATS, NINDS, VA RR&D, and NIA. Dr. Svingos has The primary effectiveness end point is decrease in pain (on a 7-point nothing to disclose. Dr. Grief has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hromas has nothing to scale) 60 minutes post-treatment for all treated headache attacks. Sec- disclose. Dr. Zamajtuk has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bu has nothing to disclose. ondary end points include decrease in the frequency of headache days between the run-in period and the last 2 weeks of the double-blind Reference ≥ [1] Singman Eric, Matta Noelle & Silbert David. (2014). Convergence Insufficiency period and responder rates (ie, percentages of subjects with 50% de- Associated with Migraine: A Case Series. The American orthoptic journal. 64. 112-6. crease in attack frequency). The primary safety end point is the in- 10.3368/aoj.64.1.112 cidence of treatment-related serious adverse events. Conclusions Correlations between qEEG volumetric analysis and This study will assess the efficacy and safety of nVNS as a novel therapy computerized cognitive testing shortly after sport concussion for PTH. injury in high school athletes Harry Kerasidis, MD; Paul David Ims; Stacie Rector Study Supported By: NA. Disclosures: Dr. Vargas has received personal compensation for consulting, serving Objective on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with American Headache To evaluate correlations between sLORETA quantitative electroen- Society, Headache Cooperative of the Pacific, ATI, Amgen, Novartis, Allergan, Alder, cephalogram (qEEG) analysis and a computerized symptom and neu- Teva, Lilly, Upsher-Smith, Biohaven, Promius, and Xoc. Neurology Today. Dr. Liebler rocognitive performance assessment. has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientificadvisory board, speaking, or other activities with electroCore, Inc. Dr. Stephen Bunt has Background nothing to disclose. Dr. Supnet-Bell has nothing to disclose. We previously reported results of sLORETA qEEG deregulation in recently concussed high school athletes. Correlations between this de- The Relationship between Headache Severity and regulation and concussion symptoms and neurocognitive performance Convergence Insufficiency in a Post-Concussive Population have not been described in this population. Shaetu Datta, MD; Michael Jaffee; Russell Bauer; Adrian Svingos; Sarah Grief; Design/Methods Gabrielle Hromas; Kyle Zamajtuk; Tyler Bu EEGs were analyzed in 61 high school athletes shortly after concussion Objective injury using sLORETA imaging compared to a normative database To examine the relationship between self-reported post concussion (NYU/BrainDx). Concussion related symptoms and neurocognitive headache severity and convergence insufficiency (CI) a common bin- performance were assessed (XLNTbrain). Peak Z-score variation ocular vision deficit, in a clinical post-concussive population. (PZV), and %volume of grey matter activity falling outside Z = −2.5 to Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Neurology S1 Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Neurology. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. 2.5 were calculated for 5 EEG frequency bands. Pearson correlation 1.05) in symptoms after controlling for age, and the neurobehavioral coefficients were calculated between the qEEG findings and the cog- measures (BESS and NIH 4m Gait) then account for an additional nitive performance testing. Statistical comparisons were made between 11.5% variance (they account for 18.6% variance, d = 0.96, when entered athletes endorsing high symptom scores vs. low scores. first). These effect sizes are considered large to very large and reflect a marked increase in predictive validity relative to existing measures used Results in concussion assessments. Statistically significant positive correlations were observed between performance on verbal go/nogo, emotional recognition of happy and Conclusions angry faces and volume and severity of sLORETA deregulation sug- An easy to administer and relatively brief screening test can be used in gesting a pathological relationship. This deregulation consisted pri- medical settings to identify concussions and predict significant and marily of deficient activity in the delta, theta, beta, and beta-gamma substantial variability in CDC concussion symptoms. bands. Significant negative correlations were observed between perfor- mance on nonverbal go/nogo, emotional recognition of angry faces, Study Supported By: NA. Disclosures: motor tapping, sentence completion, facial recognition, and word rec- Dr. Taravath has nothing to disclose. Dr. Peedin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Williams has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lecci has nothing to disclose. ognition and volume and severity of sLORETA deregulation suggesting Dr. Keith has nothing to disclose. compensatory mechanisms. This deregulation consisted primarily of excess activity in the alpha and theta bands. Elevated scores for migraine, worry, and mood were associated with increased severity and volume of Heart Rate Variability and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Case increased activity in the beta and beta-gamma bands. Athletes with Study and Review of Literature elevated vestibular symptoms had lower theta band deregulation. Harrison Seltzer; Karim Elghawy; Robert Baker Objective Conclusions Use biofeedback measures to manage a patient’s long term recovery This study demonstrates correlations between performance on com- from concussion. puterized neurocognitive tasks and changes in sLORETA qEEG analysis shortly after concussion injury in high school athletes. The data suggest Background some of these changes are pathological, while others are compensatory. Sports-related mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is estimated to affect 3.8 million people in the United States. Identifying quantitative meas- Study Supported By: Self-funded. Disclosures: ures of recovery has become a point of interest in treatment. Heart