The New 5-Minute Concussion Test

Injuries that result in concussion happen anywhere and everywhere, from the sports field and schoolyard to the neighborhood playground, and even the home. Head-injured children and teens are initially assessed in a wide range of settings, by an equally wide range of clinicians, coaches, volunteers, and others. Concussion is not always an easy call to make. We've lacked an easily administered test to facilitate early and accurate diagnosis of concussion. A team of researchers at the CHOP Minds Matter Concussion Frontier Program has developed such a test with the goal of improving outcomes for concussed youth. It's known as the visio-vestibular examination (VVE), and Medscape spoke with researcher Daniel J. Corwin, MD, MSCE, about the vast potential of this simple tool.

How would you summarize the VVE? What are you actually testing in an injured patient?

Daniel J. Corwin, MD, MSCE

The VVE is a series of physical examination maneuvers testing vision and vestibular function (including balance). It includes testing of:

• Smooth pursuits (evaluating symptom provocation while the subject's eyes track a moving object in a single plane);

• Saccadic eye movements (assessing symptom provocation while the subject's eyes jump rapidly between two fixed objects);

• Gaze stability (the angular vestibulo-ocular reflex, assessing symptom provocation with the subject's eyes fixed and their head moving up and down or side to side);