Diplomats’ brain scans only add to Cuba mystery

CHICAGO — Advanced brain scans found perplexing differences in U.S. diplomats who say they developed concussion-like symptoms after working in Cuba, a finding that only heightens the mystery of what may have happened to them, a new study says.

Extensive imaging tests showed the workers had less white matter and other structural differences compared to a group of healthy people, researchers said. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

While they had expected the cerebellum, near the brain stem, to be affected, given the workers’ reported symptoms — balance problems, sleep and thinking difficulties, headaches and other complaints — they found unique patterns in tissue connecting brain regions.

Ragini Verma, a University of Pennsylvania brain imaging specialist and the lead author, said the patterns were unlike anything she’s seen from brain diseases or injuries.

“It is pretty strange. It’s a true medical mystery,” Verma said.

An outside expert, University of Edinburgh neurologist Jon Stone, said the study doesn’t confirm that any brain injury occurred nor that the brain differences resulted from the strange experiences the diplomats said happened in Cuba.

Cuba has denied any kind of attack, which has strained relations with the United States.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said it

“is aware of the study and welcomes the medical community’s discussion on this incredibly complex issue. The department’s top priority remains the safety, security and well-being of its staff.”

Between late 2016 and May 2018, several U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana complained of health problems from an unknown cause. One U.S. government count put the number of American personnel affected at 26.