RT Journal
A1 Koerte IK, Ertl-Wagner B, Reiser M, Zafonte R, Shenton ME
T1 WHite matter integrity in the brains of professional soccer players without a symptomatic concussion
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2012
FD November 14
VO 308
IS 18
SP 1859
OP 1861
DO 10.1001/jama.2012.13735
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.13735
AB 
To the Editor: Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, with more than 250 million active players.1 It is the only sport in which the unprotected head is a primary point of contact when heading the ball. In other contact sports, the deleterious long-term effects of repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI), such as impaired white matter integrity,2 are well recognized.3 However, whether frequent subconcussive blows to the head lead to TBI remains controversial,4- 5 although evidence suggests impaired neuropsychological function in soccer players.5 We evaluated concussion-naive soccer players using high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which is highly sensitive for detecting alterations in white matter architecture.