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Role of Neuroprotein S-100B in the Diagnostic of Pediatric Mild Brain Injury

  • Focus on Pediatric Polytrauma
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Abstract

Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of death and disability in children and adolescents. Patients with moderate or severe lesions can be readily recognized clinically, require immediate radiologic diagnostics by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), admission to intensive care units, and, in some cases, will go on to require neurosurgical intervention. Patients with mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBIs) are diagnostically challenging. Often, the event is unobserved and head injury can only be suspected. Clinical symptoms are unreliable and clinical findings from neurological examination have to be interpreted with care. As a small percentage of MTBI patients progress to have a life-threatening intracranial hemorrhage, the recognition of this group of patients and their judicious and timely management is, therefore, an important goal. Subjecting every MTBI patient to a cranial CT scanning results in high costs and unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation. Admitting all MTBI patients for observation and performing CTs only in case of clinical deterioration is costly and a substantial drain on resources, not to mention the radiation exposure and a source of stress for the majority of patients. Current European guidelines for diagnostics and therapy in MTBI patients are only partially applicable to the pediatric population. This article reviews the clinical problem, treatment options and guidelines, as well as diagnostic tools, with special focus on neuroprotein S-100B in pediatric and adolescent patients with MTBIs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria

    Annelie-Martina Weinberg & Christoph Castellani MD

  2. Department of Surgery, District Hospital Vorau, Vorau, Austria

    Christoph Castellani MD

  3. Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34, 8036, Graz, Austria

    Christoph Castellani MD

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  1. Annelie-Martina Weinberg
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Correspondence to Christoph Castellani MD.

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Weinberg, AM., Castellani, C. Role of Neuroprotein S-100B in the Diagnostic of Pediatric Mild Brain Injury. Eur J Trauma 36, 318–324 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-010-1120-8

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