Blood Test Diagnoses Concussion, Predicts Long-term Cognitive Disability

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, together with colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine, have discovered a new blood biomarker that correctly predicts which concussion victims go on to have white matter tract structural damage and persistent cognitive dysfunction following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). They found that the blood levels of a protein called calpain-cleaved αII-spectrin N-terminal fragment (SNTF) were twice as high in a subset of patients following a traumatic injury. Given on the day of the mTBI, the blood test showed 100-percent sensitivity to predict concussions leading to persisting cognitive problems, and 75-percent specificity to correctly rule out those without functionally harmful concussions. If validated in larger studies, a blood test measuring levels of SNTF could be helpful in diagnosing and predicting risk of long-term consequences of concussion. Click here to read more.