"Orlando Fla  Researchers at Orlando Health detected evidence of concussions in patients up to  days after their injury using a simple blood test according to a new study published in JAMA Neurology. The discovery could greatly expand the window for diagnosing concussions especially in patients who experience a delayed onset of symptoms. Symptoms of a concussion or a mild to moderate traumatic brain injury can be subtle and are often delayed in many cases by several days said Linda Papa MD MSC an emergency medicine physician and NIH funded researcher at Orlando Health and lead author of the study. This could provide doctors with an important tool for simply and accurately diagnosing those patients particularly children and making sure they are treated properly. Its estimated nearly a quarter of a million children are treated in hospitals each year for concussions from playing sports an average of nearly  a day. Almost all concussions in children are diagnosed only by symptoms which are either observed like vomiting or loss of balance or symptoms reported by the child like blurred vision or headaches. Neither scenario gives doctors and objective way to determine the severity of the injury.  If patients are not diagnosed properly and treated appropriately it could lead to longterm problems said Papa. Untreated or undertreated traumatic brain injuries like concussions can lead to prolonged bouts with headaches dizziness memory loss and depression.  This test could take the guesswork out of making a diagnosis by allowing doctors to simply look for a specific biomarker in the blood. The biomarker Papa analyzed is known as a glial fibrillary acidic protein GFAP. These proteins are found in glial cells which surround neurons in the brain and when an injury occurs the GFAP are released. What makes them unique is that they pass the bloodbrain barrier and enter the bloodstream making them easy to detect with this particular test.  Not only were they present in the bloodstream we were able to detect measurable levels of GFAP up to a week after the injury said Papa.  Researchers analyzed nearly  patients for  years. When crosschecked with scans the blood test was able to detect mild to moderate traumatic brain lesions with up to  percent accuracy in patients  years and older. The blood test also indicated which patients were in need of lifesaving neurosurgery. This suggests that the blood test could be used by clinicians for up to a week after injury to detect brain injury. This is important because many patients with concussion may not seek medical attention for days after injury.  The blood test could also dramatically cut down on the need for computerized tomography CT scans. Currently CT scans are the most precise way to diagnose brain lesions but are expensive and are associated with radiation exposure. Physicians really want to minimize the amount of CTs in patients especially children who are a lot more sensitive to radiation and the side effects that can come with it. Fortunately this simple blood test appears to give us nearly the same information as a CT scan. In fact in a previous study published last fall Papa and her team at Orlando Health tested both. They analyzed  children within  hours of sustaining a concussion or mild to moderate traumatic brain injury. The results showed that the blood test was able to detect brain injuries with  percent accuracy nearly as effective as stateofthe art CT scans. This could ultimately change the way we diagnose concussions not only in children but in anyone who sustains a head injury said Papa. We have so many diagnostic blood tests for different parts of the body like the heart liver and kidneys but theres never been a reliable blood test to identify trauma in the brain. We think this test could change that she said.  BROLL SOUND BITES WEB ELEMENTS  HIRES STILL PHOTOS  Including HD video available for freeunrestricted use by the news media httpbit.lyRzOAs  Courtesy Orlando Health For assistance in downloading or if you have any questions contact drewmediasourcetv.com mailtodrewmediasourcetv.com or call ..  About Orlando Health  Orlando Health is a . billion notforprofit health care organization and a communitybased network of physician practices hospitals and outpatient care centers throughout Central Florida. The organization is home to the areas only Level One Trauma Centers for adults and pediatrics and is a statutory teaching hospital system that offers both specialty and community hospitals.  Nearly  physicians have privileges at Orlando Health which is also one of the areas largest employers with more than  employees who serve nearly  million Central Florida residents and more than  international patients annually. Additionally Orlando Health provides more than  million in support of community health needs. More information can be found at http"