Blood Test Predicts Prognosis for Traumatic Brain Injuries

A new method of blood testing may reveal immediate signs of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the emergency room, enabling clearer diagnosis for immediate treatment options. Researchers from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine reported in the Journal of Neurotrauma that elevated levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) reliably predicted the presence of TBI, as well as projected severity and recovery rates. If tested within 24 hours of an injury, much clearer readings could be provided by testing BDNF protein presence, and measuring it by nanograms per milliliter with the presence of the highest BDNF levels appeared to predict fastest recovery rates, while lower amounts marked injury, but predicted slower recovery. “A typical situation is that someone comes to the emergency department with a suspected TBI, we get a CT scan, and if the scan shows no bleeding, we send the patient home,” said an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins. “However, these patients go home and continue having headaches, difficulty concentrating and memory problems, and they can’t figure out why they are having these symptoms after doctors told them everything was fine.” To learn more about this study, click here.