SPECT Scan as Evidence for Mild TBI Ruling
Accident victims who suffer catastrophic impairments can access greatly enhanced accident benefits funding, which in turn promotes higher value claims settlements. To be deemed catastrophically impaired under the criteria set out in the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS), an accident victim with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) requires objective evidence of the injury on diagnostic imaging, supported by expert medical opinions. This presents a challenge when the initial trauma results in a mild TBI (or concussion), because these injuries do not usually show up on standard imaging technology (x-ray, CT and MRI). Recently, however, scans taken with a newer technology called single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) have been accepted by Ontario courts as an evidentiary tool for demonstrating mild TBI, although its use has been controversial.
