Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Murine Model of Controlled Cortical Impact for the Induction of Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 16, 2019
Traumatic brain injury biomarkers in pediatric patients: a systematic review
Lucas Alexandre Santos Marzano1, Joao Pedro Thimotheo Batista1, Marina de Abreu Arruda1
1Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Investigação Médica (LIIM), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), CEP 30.130-100, Avenida Professor Alfredo Balena, nº190/sl 281, Santa Efigênia, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Insights
Biomarkers like S100B show promise for diagnosing pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Further research is needed to develop accurate diagnostic and prognostic tools for children with TBI.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Traumatology
- Neurology
- Biomarker Research
Background:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in children globally.
- Identifying reliable biomarkers is crucial for assessing functional outcomes in pediatric TBI.
- Current diagnostic methods require improvement for effective pediatric TBI management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and evaluate the utility of TBI biomarkers in the pediatric population.
- To summarize recent findings on serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and neuroimaging biomarkers for pediatric TBI.
- To assess the diagnostic and prognostic potential of identified biomarkers.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted, retrieving 303 articles.
- After screening and exclusion, 56 studies met the inclusion criteria.
- Studies analyzed serum (36), CSF (9), and neuroimaging (11) biomarkers.
Main Results:
- Serum biomarkers, particularly S100B, were most frequently analyzed due to ease of sample collection.
- S100B demonstrated high sensitivity for diagnosing pediatric TBI.
- Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) showed diagnostic potential among neuroimaging techniques.
Conclusions:
- S100B measurement holds significant promise for diagnosing pediatric TBI, especially when combined with CT scans and clinical protocols.
- Further large-scale longitudinal studies are essential for developing precise diagnostic and prognostic tools for pediatric TBI.
- Standardized protocols incorporating biomarkers are needed for improved pediatric TBI care.
Abstract:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main cause of pediatric trauma death and disability worldwide. Recent studies have sought to identify biomarkers of TBI for the purpose of assessing functional outcomes. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the utility of TBI biomarkers in the pediatric population by summarizing recent findings in the medical literature. A total of 303 articles were retrieved from our search. An initial screening to remove duplicate studies yielded 162 articles. After excluding all articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 56 studies were gathered. Among the 56 studies, 36 analyzed serum biomarkers; 11, neuroimaging biomarkers; and 9, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. Most studies assessed biomarkers in the serum, reflecting the feasibility of obtaining blood samples compared to obtaining CSF or performing neuroimaging. S100B was the most studied serum biomarker in TBI, followed by SNE and UCH-L1, whereas in CSF analysis, there was no unanimity. Among the different neuroimaging techniques employed, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was the most common, seemingly holding diagnostic power in the pediatric TBI clinical setting. The number of cross-sectional studies was similar to the number of longitudinal studies. Our data suggest that S100B measurement has high sensitivity and great promise in diagnosing pediatric TBI, ideally when associated with head CT examination and clinical decision protocols. Further large-scale longitudinal studies addressing TBI biomarkers in children are required to establish more accurate diagnostic protocols and prognostic tools.
