Second-impact Syndrome - History

History

The condition was first described in 1973 by R.C. Schneider, and the term second-impact syndrome was coined in 1984. In 1984, R.L. Saunders described the death of a football player who had died after a second, unremarkable concussion and hypothesized that the second blow caused a catastrophic rise in ICP, possibly through loss of vasomotor tone, because the brain was in a vulnerable state. Between 1984 and 1991, only four cases were documented. Between 1992 and 1998, reports of the condition began to be made more frequently than they had before, a fact is thought to be due to wider recognition of the syndrome by clinicians. In 1991, J.P. Kelly and others reported another football death after repeated concussions and coined the term "vascular congestion syndrome".

In 2002, a high-school football player from Texas named Will Benson suffered two concussions within two weeks; he collapsed shortly after the second one and died six days later as the result. He is thought to have died from SIS. Will's Bill, a law for which the father of the player had advocated after his death, was passed in Texas in June 2007. The law mandates basic emergency and safety training for sports officials in high schools, including education about second-impact syndrome, with a special focus on concussion symptoms.

In 2005, Preston Plevretes, a football player for LaSalle University, had his life changed forever by second-impact syndrome. After undergoing a head-to-head hit at football practice, a university doctor diagnosed Plevretes with a concussion and two days later was told he was allowed to resume play. Three games after returning Plevretes sustained another concussion resulting in second-impact syndrome. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors cut the right side of his skull. Five years after the injury, he still struggles to do everyday activities. Because of Plevretes, the NCAA revised concussion guidelines. The NCAA strongly urges schools to have a concussion management plan. They also require that an athlete have clearance by a team doctor before being allowed to return.

In 2006, Zachary Lystedt, a thirteen-year-old football player, suffered a concussion during one of his games. He shrugged off the hit and went back in the game a few plays later. At the end of the game, he collapsed on the field. Lystedt had second-impact syndrome. He was airlifted to a hospital where surgeons cut both sides of his skull so that the blood clot could be taken out. He was in the hospital for months and he still has trouble doing everyday things, such as walking. To prevent other families from going through what they went through, the Lystedt family made it their goal to make a law that athletes who are suspected of a concussion are not allowed to return to play unless he or she is cleared by a licensed physician. The law is now effective in over thirty states.

By 2003, 21 cases of SIS had been reported in medical literature.