text_1: FDA authorizes marketing of first blood test to aid in the evaluation of concussion in adults
text_2: The Food and Drug Administration approved for marketing a blood test that uses the presence of certain proteins to predict whether adults with a suspected concussion have structural brain injury, and which could conceivably reduce the number of people who undergo costlier computed tomography (CT) scans. The Brain Trauma Indicator test measures levels of proteins, known as UCH-L1 and GFAP, that are released from the brain into blood and measured within 12 hours of head injury. Its anticipated that knowing these levels can help predict which patients may have intracranial lesions visible by CT scan and which don’t. We wish the release had included the research institutions involved and any publications relating to the study so that we could evaluate the evidence. This evidence was also missing from a CNN story we also reviewed on the test. There were approximately 2.8 million traumatic brain injury (TBI) visits to the emergency department in 2013, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and of these, TBI contributed to the deaths of 50,000 people.The release predicts that about one-third of patients may be able to forego CT scans because of this test’s predictive value. While the blood test reportedly has high sensitivity and specificity, logistical issues may lead doctors to do the test and continue to scan. Emergency department doctors may not be able to wait at least 3-4 hours for the blood test results since this would impact other workflows. News releases about concussion are bound to get a lot of attention. In this case, the news release doesn’t clearly spell out to lay readers what this test does. It’s not a test for concussion, as a casual reader might glean from the way it’s worded.