A new study aimed at identifying a blood protein marker predictive of delayed recovery of concussion in children showed that alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (alpha-1-ACT) was significantly lower in children with delayed recovery compared to those without delayed recovery. The study is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neurotrauma. Click here to read the article now.
About 30-50% of the four million children who experience a concussion each year will experience delayed recovery, where they will continue to experience symptoms more than two weeks after their injury. "We have identified that alpha-1-ACT differentiates between children at risk of delayed recovery from those without delayed recovery from concussion," state Vicki Anderson, from Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and coauthors of the study.
"The key to optimum patient outcomes in pediatric concussion is early and accurate diagnosis, effective treatment and safe return to learning, exercise, and sports and leisure," state the investigators. "In children presenting to acute care services within 48 hours of injury, our results suggest that alpha-1-ACT can contribute to the identification of risk of delayed recovery, enabling clinicians to provide individualized patient management in a timely fashion, and to effectively target scarce education and therapy resources."
"Congratulations to Dr. Swaney and colleagues for this important work. We desperately need better tools to predict delayed recovery after concussion, and there has been far too little work on this topic in children," says David L. Brody, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neurotrauma.
About the Journal
Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and the papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the official journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Neurotrauma website.
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