Blood Tests Can Define Brain Injuries
The death recently of actress Natasha Richardson was extremely sad for family, friends and fans. But the skiing accident showed an example of how a small injury can develop quickly into a potentially fatal injury. As a result of this accident there has been a lot of talk about what can be done to prevent a situation like this happening again.
The University of Rochester Medical Center has produced two studies recently that have given indication that certain blood tests can indicate how severity of a head injury.
The study is in regards to S-100B blood test. This serum protein biomarker can rise after a head injury. If S-100B blood test is measured less than 4 hours after the injury, it can predict the severity of the head injury. This test takes 20 minutes and the results show which patients will need a further CT scan and which ones don’t.
The normal process is that any serious head injury will be given a CT scan which will give exposure to radation that can be prevented with this new test. This will result in serious injuries being diagnosed sooner and safer.
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