Research In Action

A note from the blog moderator: Dr. Daniel Corwin, the Emergency Department (ED) lead of the Minds Matter program, associate fellow of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP), and attending physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), was recently featured in a blog article about how a decade of research alongside Dr. Christina Master, co-director of the Minds Matter program, has shaped and refined the visio-vestibular exam (VVE). The VVE was recently recognized internationally as a clinical diagnostic and assessment tool for pediatric concussion. An excerpt of the blog article authored by Lauren Ingeno and Emily Shafer is included below.

An international panel of more than 100 researchers and clinicians released new scientific evidence and revised recommendations on the diagnosis, management, and prevention of concussions. Included in those recommendations is the visio-vestibular exam (VVE) -- a clinical diagnostic tool developed after years of extensive research and clinical use at CHOP.

The newest international recommendations on concussion are based on outcomes from the Sixth International Conference on Concussion in Sport, held in Amsterdam in October 2022, and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in June 2023.

As part of the consensus statement released at the conference, the international group of experts recommended multiple assessment tools, including the new Child Sport Concussion Office Assessment Tool 6 (Child SCOAT-6). The VVE was incorporated as a key element of the Child SCOAT-6.

The VVE is a clinical assessment tool developed and refined by researchers and clinicians in CHOP's Minds Matter Concussion Program over the past decade. The exam identifies visual and vestibular system deficits, such as impaired eye movement, monocular and binocular visual function, and dynamic balance, as markers for both the diagnosis of and recovery from concussion. This type of testing is already used as a standard-of-care in settings across CHOP for the diagnosis and management of concussions, including primary care, the ED, urgent care, sports medicine, and trauma.

Now, the assessment tool will be adopted more widely in settings around the world, as part of the new guidelines.

"Our ultimate goal is for visio-vestibular testing to be routinely performed on every child who may have a concussion," said Dr. Corwin, "regardless of where, when, and by whom their assessment occurs. The fact that the VVE has been recognized internationally as a critical evaluation tool for pediatric concussion is a significant step toward achieving that goal."

Dr. Corwin has served as a lead author on multiple studies evaluating the reliability, efficacy, and prognostic ability of the VVE, along with Dr. Master. 

Click here to read the full blog post on Cornerstone.