New blood test evaluates concussion, traumatic brain injury

DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Sally Fryer Dietz specializes in helping people recover from concussions.

“Any blow to the central nervous system, that is, to the head or tailbone, can cause a concussion,” she said.

When it comes to youth, the Texas Education Agency says that traumatic brain injury, or TBI, has become known as a “silent epidemic.”

6,000 Texas children are hospitalized with TBI a year. 1300 of these cases lead to long-term disability.

“Sports injuries definitely happen,” Dietz said. “Texas has the most student-athletes who play sports, so we get more concussions just because of the number of kids who actually play sports.”

Dietz said there should always be someone on the field to check for concussions.

If there are red flags, the athlete must be excluded from the game. They need to see a doctor who officially diagnoses a concussion.

CBS News Texas asked how many cases of concussion go unnoticed.

“They probably go unnoticed most of the time,” Dietz said.

Abbott Laboratories said a new, commercially available laboratory blood test could be useful in just such cases.

It measures two indicators in the blood that, at elevated concentrations, are strongly associated with brain damage.

The test takes about 18 minutes and will help doctors evaluate patients with mild TBI, eliminating the need for a CT scan, which can be expensive.

“I think the more tools you have available to really make an accurate diagnosis, the better,” Dietz said. “Do you need to take a blood test? I don’t think so”.

Dietz said there are other ways to tell if someone has had a concussion based on the set of symptoms they will show.

“If you’re not feeling well in any way, having a concussion specialist looking at the big picture of your performances, thoughts, and actions can be very beneficial to your recovery,” Dietz said.

She said you didn’t want to put yourself at risk of injury in the future.