An estimated 160 players suffered a head injury during regular-season play in the National Football League last season. Head injury is not unique to the American sport of football, but the concern about concussion and head injury in professional football, youth leagues, high school and college teams has caused the sport to be front and center in the controversy regarding concussion and long-term effects of such head injury.

The first court activity regarding the NFL Concussion Litigation filed on behalf of close to 4,000 former players began April 9. The alarm has arisen because research is indicating that there are long term effects with multiple concussive events and this often happens in football.

Science has not progressed to the point of enabling us to know who is at risk after a concussion and when a concussive event ceases to be a danger of progressing or having long-term effects. Young athletes are particularly at risk as their brains are not yet fully developed, and little is known about long-term impact of head injury. Changes in brain tissue are known to occur in adolescents suffering concussion. Tests using visual function are proving to be promising in detecting a head injury that has created a concussion.

"Concussion Screening in High School Football Using the King-Devick Test" is the topic of a presentation scheduled for the upcoming Association Research in Vision and Ophthalmology the first week in May in Seattle. The work presented by Dr. Vladimir Yevseyenkov and his student colleagues Kirk Kaupke, Shawn Lebsock and Matthew Kaminsky was undertaken with the aim to determine the effectiveness of the test used to assess functional saccadic eye movements in detecting a concussive event in 47 high school football players. The football players were given a baseline King-Devick Test at the start of the season. The findings:

"There was very little variance in athletes who did not have concussion when comparing pre- and post-season testing ... The three football players whose concussion diagnosis was confirmed by a neurologist did in fact demonstrate diminished KD Test performance times within 30 minutes of the on-field injury. Times were diminished by 41 percent in student 1, 100 percent in student 2, and 143 percent in student 3."

Yevseyenkov concludes; "The King-Devick Test can potentially be used as a rapid sideline tool to identify athletes who have potential concussion in a time period of under one minute. A rapid sideline screening test for concussions in high school athletes could assist in recognizing whether an athlete is safe to return to play."

From childhood through a professional career, a lifetime of risk of concussive events can result in serious health issues later in life for some athletes. Researchers investigating the long-term impact of head injury in professional football players are optimistic. With the ability to detect and recognize damage from concussive events, this "offers us the hope that we can identify individuals before there's a lot of symptoms and try to protect the healthy brain rather than try to repair damage once it's done."