(VOR News) – A recent study suggests that a fast blood test could expedite the course of treatment for stroke victims whose condition was caused by brain hemorrhage.
The researchers discovered that stroke patients who experienced brain bleeds had blood levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein, or GFAP, a brain protein, that were almost seven times greater than those who had a stroke brought on by a blood clot.
A blood test that detects GFAP during emergency transportation may be able to begin effective treatment for these patients before they even reach the hospital, according to research presented Thursday at the American Stroke Association’s (ASA) annual conference, which will take place in Los Angeles the following week.
Stroke victims may benefit from this blood test.
The lead researcher, Dr. Love-Preet Kalra, a neurology resident at the RKH Hospital Klinikum Ludwigsburg in Germany, stated in a press release issued by the American Stroke Association (ASA) that it is critical to differentiate between the two types of stroke because they require different treatments.
According to Kalra, “in the case of an ischemic stroke, it is necessary to either physically remove the clot or use drugs that break up clots in order to open the blocked blood vessel.”
However, it is best to reduce elevated blood pressure and use medication that counteracts blood-thinning drugs if the patient is experiencing a bleeding stroke.
According to the researchers who provided background information, the amount of irreparable brain tissue damage is determined by the interval between a stroke’s diagnosis and treatment. To differentiate between strokes caused by clots and those caused by bleeding, doctors increasingly use imaging scans.
Unfortunately, these Blood Test scans can be postponed for several hours while a patient is being stabilized, evaluated in the emergency room, and then taken to radiology, as the researchers pointed out. As this is happening, brain cells are dying.
According to the study team, GFAP could aid in the diagnosis of a brain-bleed or stroke. It is already utilized in the assessment of traumatic brain injuries once the protein released by injured and deceased brain cells enters the bloodstream. 353 patients who received treatment within six hours of the onset of stroke symptoms were included in the study.
While the patient was being transported to the emergency department, blood samples were collected and analyzed using a portable blood analyzer to determine GFAP levels.
According to the hospital’s brain imaging data, 258 people had strokes brought on by clots, 76 people had bleeding strokes, and 19 people had conditions including headaches or seizures that would mimic strokes.
According to the findings, patients who experienced a bleeding stroke had GFAP levels that were Blood Test approximately seven times higher than those who experienced a stroke caused by a clot, and those who experienced a bleeding stroke had levels that were more than four times higher than those of patients who had a stroke-simulated illness.
With a degree of accuracy ranging from 95% throughout their presentation, researchers were able to accurately determine which people had suffered a bleeding stroke while taking age into account.
The GFAP level was higher in blood thinner users.
According to Kalra, if these results are confirmed in larger individual studies, the blood test may change the way stroke patients are treated.
According to Kalra, prehospital environments would enable “treatment to lower blood pressure and reverse blood-thinning medications,” radically altering clinical therapy. This would be a significant Blood Test breakthrough in the field of medicine. In the future, patients could be prescribed blood thinners or medications that break up clots before they arrive at the hospital.
Dr. Louise McCullough, a volunteer with the American Heart Association, concurred that larger sample sizes in future studies should validate the study’s findings.
According to a press statement from McCullough, chief of neurology at Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center in Houston, “The study had a rather small sample size, and for the Blood Test to be effective, both the patient’s blood and the GFAP test must be available as a “point of care” test in the field.”
McCullough, who did not take part in the trial, pointed out that most ambulances and emergency medical services do not currently have access to this blood test.
The data presented at medical symposia should be regarded as preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed publication.
SOURCE: HD
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