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Stroke Detection
Researchers lay groundwork for fast, accurate blood test
IMAGE: Stuart Bradford c/o TheispotAn interdisciplinary research team has identified proteins in the blood that could someday lead to a simple blood test to help first responders or emergency-room clinicians quickly assess whether someone is experiencing a stroke.
While a viable test is probably years away, the researchers identified new biomarkers—or protein signatures—whose presence in the blood indicates damage to brain tissue, said Grant O鈥機onnell, PhD, an assistant professor at 星空传媒鈥檚 Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and director of its Biomarker and Basic Sciences Laboratory.
鈥淚f we had a blood test to tell us right away if someone is having a stroke,鈥� O鈥機onnell said, 鈥渢hat could make a huge difference, allowing people to get proper treatment sooner鈥攁nd that will save lives.鈥�
The team鈥檚 findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
O鈥機onnell said as many as 30% of strokes are not initially recognized with an assessment of patient symptoms, delaying critical treatment.
鈥淵ou would think that a stroke would be really obvious, and that鈥檚 true with severe strokes,鈥� O鈥機onnell said, 鈥渂ut most strokes are actually minor,鈥� in terms of initial symptoms.
While biomarkers won鈥檛 replace imaging or other diagnostic tools, O鈥機onnell added, 鈥渢hey could help us recognize strokes more quickly and confidently.鈥� For example, emergency medical workers could immediately transport patients testing positive to hospitals certified as stroke centers.
O鈥機onnell hopes the research will spur advances in a field that for decades has focused on a handful of biomarkers that he said haven鈥檛 been sufficiently accurate in signifying strokes to warrant creation of a diagnostic test based on them.
He also believes the biomarkers his team identified could be used to detect brain damage from other conditions, and that further investigation could lead to tools with the potential to 鈥渄ramatically improve how we recognize and manage a wide variety of neurological conditions.鈥�