As the father of four boys who play hockey, concussions are an ever present concern. In the past, getting your lights knocked out or seeing stars after a good hit while playing contact sports was a rite of passage. Thankfully, our knowledge and handling of concussions has evolved since the days of my youth in the early 1980s.
We now know that a concussion is a brain injury, and there is no such thing as a mild brain injury. Advancements in the law, such as the Zackery Lystedt Law, have been passed to address youth sports concussion safety. Indeed, by adopting the Zachery Lysteadt Law (RCW 28A.600.190) in 2009, Washington State became the first state in the nation to enact a comprehensive youth sports concussion safety law. Many states have since followed Washington, and as a father and hockey coach, I am deeply grateful for these advancements. The days of “rub some dirt on it and get back in the game” are over.
However, most concussions in children are diagnosed based on symptoms—such as vomiting, balance issues, headaches and blurred vision—but research indicates that these tests correctly identifies concussions only 86% of the time. Further, concussions symptoms do not give physicians an idea regarding the severity of the brain injury.
Thus, the diagnosis, or misdiagnosis, of a concussion is a significant problem. However, a recent study found that using a blood test, the levels of a certain protein in the blood can not only indicate whether a person has sustained a concussion, but can also provide physicians with an idea regarding the severity of the brain injury.
The study can be found here:
[Performance of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in Detecting Traumatic Intracranial Lesions on Computed Tomography in Children and Youth With Mild Head Trauma](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acem.12795/abstract)
“With our blood test, we were able to identify the presence of brain injuries 94% of the time—this simple blood test was nearly as accurate as a state-of-the-art CT scan,” said Dr. Linda Papa, an emergency medicine physician and study author in a press release. “We were looking at different types of brain lesions detected by the CT scans, ranging from mild to serious injuries, and found that the biomarker we tested for actually corresponded to the injuries. Levels of the biomarker were lower in mild cases, and were much more elevated in severe case.”
Dr. Papa said the ultimate goal is to find a point-of-care test that can be used during games by coaches or trainers to better inform decision-making and put parents’ minds at ease. The development of a simple blood test, which would allow physicians to accurately diagnose concussions, would be another very welcome advancement regarding the diagnosis of concussions.
