Brain Injury Blood Test
Detecting Brain Injury, especially in trauma cases, is difficult. Usually emergency medical technicians and emergency room physicians focus on the most pressing and visible injuries: blood gushing wounds and the like.
When a person comes to the ER with a TBI, doctors must determine if there is any bleeding in the brain. Bleeding can cause a pool of blood that puts pressure on the surrounding brain tissue, causing more damage. Subdural and epidural hematoma being most common. Currently, the best, quick way to look for intracranial bleeding is with a CT scan. Unfortunately this test provides little resolution to actually see anything other than big masses of blood.
CT scans are used to detect a number of potential problems for ER patients. So the demand for the units is often high and the wait for a scan for a TBI patient can be long. In addition, in 95 percent of patients with mild TBI, the CT scans are normal. So CT is not the best detector of brain injury, it is simply practical in that it is least invasive to the injured patient, takes realtively less time then other tests such as MRI, EEG, DTI and PET.
Researchers are looking at another way to detect potential brain damage from a TBI, using a blood test instead of an imaging technique. The blood test looks for a marker, called S-100B, a type of protein from a type of brain cell known as an astrocyte. Studies show this marker is elevated in patients with a brain bleeding after a TBI.
The blood test takes about 20 minutes to perform. However, studies suggest that the test must be done within three hours to ensure accuracy. If the test is negative, it’s most likely the patient doesn’t need a CT scan.
The S-100B test is approved for use in Europe, but it is still under study in the U.S. Researchers are still enrolling patients in the US trial. In the future, a portable screener may be developed so that rescue workers can administer the test before the patient gets to the hospital. That will save time in the emergency room and enable doctors to start appropriate treatment faster.
The blood test, according to Army Col. Dallas Hack, looks for unique proteins that find their way into the blood stream from damaged brain cells. The test was able to accurately detect mild traumatic brain injury in 34 patients involved in the research, which was overseen by Col. Hack. Hack compared the new findings with that of unique proteins that are now used to identify heart disease, which were discovered in the 70s. He shared: “This will in fact do for brain injury what that test did for chest pain. It’s going to change medicine entirely.� Army vice chief of staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli described the discovery as “huge�.
Detecting Brain Injury, especially in trauma cases, is difficult. Usually emergency medical technicians and emergency room physicians focus on the most pressing and visible injuries: blood gushing wounds and the like.When a person comes to the ER with a TBI, doctors must determine if there is any bleeding in the brain. Bleeding can cause a pool of blood that puts pressure on the surrounding brain tissue, causing more damage. Subdural and epidural hematoma being most common. Currently, the best, quick way to look for intracranial bleeding is with a CT scan. Unfortunately this test provides little resolution to actually see anything other than big masses of blood.
Do you know of any prisons that are using biofeedback as a method for helping their inmates through rehabilitation? Is it even a feasible option? I’ve heard of neurofeedback being used for children with autism, and until now hadn’t heard of it being used for behavioral issues in adults. Would someone with a sticky habit need to have the willingness to drop their habit, or is the biofeedback enough to break through the low-level attractor even in spite of the client’s receptiveness?
My thought is that if it’s helping little children who really don’t have a clear idea of what’s going on, that it might work regardless of a person’s openness to the idea. What’s your experience with this?
I’m looking forward to hearing back from you and appreciate your detailed information. Thank you!
You are absolutely right sensor headset. The sad fact is that most mild and moderate traumatic brain injuries often go undetected and undiagnosed in the Emergency Room.
I have a challenging case of a woman who received a moderate brain injury a year ago and due to financial and other limitations has not been able to seek care for the sequale of brain injury. The hospital noted her Loss of conciousness but never pursued her injury beyond a CT Scan.
You correctly point out the resolution limitation of CT as compared to MRI and other functional imaging techniques.
I am also working with a biomechanical engineer to get force evaluations made in the emergency room to justify pursuit of brain injury evaluation.
Thanks for the comment.