Blood test may someday diagnose concussion

A simple blood test may one day diagnose concussions with more than 90 percent certainty, a small Canadian study suggests. 
This new test is unique, the authors said, because it looks for more than 100 markers indicating that a concussion has occurred. In the past researchers looked for a single marker in the blood to indicate a concussion, they said.
"We were pleasantly surprised, when we looked at the pattern of metabolites [markers], that we could identify people who were injured with no other information and with greater than 90 percent certainty," said lead researcher Dr. Douglas Fraser. He's a consultant in pediatric critical care medicine at the Children's Health Research Institute in London, Ontario.  For the study, Fraser and colleagues looked for markers of concussion in 29 teen hockey players. Some had experienced a head injury.  Others had not. 
But not everyone is convinced of the test's abilities.
"It might have potential for diagnosis of concussion, but these are preliminary results with only 29 patients," said Dr. John Kuluz, director of traumatic brain injury and neurorehabilitation at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami.
The test will have to be validated in a lot more patients, according to Kuluz. 
Plus, he said, the test wouldn't need to used that often. "There are only a small number of patients where the diagnosis is in doubt," Kuluz said.
"But in those cases such a test could be helpful," he noted. Diagnosis of concussion can sometimes be difficult, because it relies on seeing symptoms such as dizziness, headache, blurred vision, nausea and other overt problems, Fraser said. It is equally difficult to tell accurately when a patient's concussion has passed and they can return to normal activities, he said.
"People have been looking for one or two proteins floating around in blood that are released from the brain after it's been injured," Fraser said.
    
    HealthDay

Blood test may someday diagnose concussion

A simple blood test may one day diagnose concussions with more than 90 percent certainty, a small Canadian study suggests. This new test is unique, the authors said, because it looks for more than 100 markers indicating that a concussion has occurred. In the past researchers looked for a single marker in the blood to indicate a concussion, they said. We were pleasantly surprised, when we looked at the pattern of metabolites [markers], that we could identify people who were injured with no other information and with greater than 90 percent certainty, said lead researcher Dr. Douglas Fraser. Hes a consultant in pediatric critical care medicine at the Childrens Health Research Institute in London, Ontario. For the study, Fraser and colleagues looked for markers of concussion in 29 teen hockey players. Some had experienced a head injury. Others had not. But not everyone is convinced of the tests abilities. It might have potential for diagnosis of concussion, but these are preliminary results with only 29 patients, said Dr. John Kuluz, director of traumatic brain injury and neurorehabilitation at Nicklaus Childrens Hospital in Miami. The test will have to be validated in a lot more patients, according to Kuluz. Plus, he said, the test wouldnt need to used that often. There are only a small number of patients where the diagnosis is in doubt, Kuluz said. But in those cases such a test could be helpful, he noted. Diagnosis of concussion can sometimes be difficult, because it relies on seeing symptoms such as dizziness, headache, blurred vision, nausea and other overt problems, Fraser said. It is equally difficult to tell accurately when a patients concussion has passed and they can return to normal activities, he said. People have been looking for one or two proteins floating around in blood that are released from the brain after its been injured, Fraser said. HealthDay