Big news in concussion detection! And it’s good news for the MAC Alliance, medical practitioners everywhere and patients alike.
A blood test that may help diagnose concussions has been reported in nearly every major newspaper in the country. In fact, the FDA has recently approved Banyan Biomarker’s Brain Trauma Indictor which will aid in concussion evaluation and perhaps eliminate the need for additional brain scans.
How does the test work?
Concussions aren’t always detected via CT scan, which also involve radiation (some estimates are 200x the amount of a standard chest x-rays) and expense. The blood test measures blood plasma levels of specific proteins, UCH-L1 and GFAP, which are both said to be released at elevated levels following concussion and can be detected within 20 minutes of a suspected head injury for up to 12 hours. Results can be obtained within a few hours. The test supports the FDA’s initiative to reduce unnecessary radiation from medical imaging.
FDA approval
While the FDA approved the test for use with adults, the company producing the test says they are still conducting clinical trials with children.
In a statement issued by the FDA, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD said, “A blood-testing option for the evaluation of mTBI/concussion not only provides healthcare professionals with a new tool, but also sets the stage for a more modernized standard of care for testing of suspected cases. In addition, availability of a blood test for mTBI/concussion will likely reduce the CT scans performed on patients with concussions each year, potentially saving our health care system the cost of often unnecessary neuroimaging tests.”
The test was initially financed by the Department of Defense who were seeking an easier way of evaluating injured soldiers in combat to determine which of those with head injuries required a higher level of care. Test results from close to 2,000 individuals suspected of having mild concussions were studied.
