Research by Orlando Health physician pioneered
development of new TBI blood test
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Orlando
Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) is the first hospital
in the world to use a new, groundbreaking blood test to help assess
patients with suspected mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), or
concussions. The rapid TBI blood test provides results in just 15
minutes and was developed by Abbott, in collaboration with the
Department of Defense, and built upon innovative research that
Orlando Health's Dr. Linda Papa and
others helped pioneer over 20 years ago.
According to the National Institutes of Health, traumatic brain
injury from accidents or sports is a leading cause of death and
disability in the United States.
And the CDC estimates that 2.5 million people visited the emergency
department for TBIs in one year.
Nearly 25 years ago, Dr. Papa noticed as an emergency medicine
physician that doctors had blood tests to help diagnose and treat
conditions for many major organs like the heart, liver and kidneys.
But there was no blood test for the brain. She was inspired by her
patients to find a way to blunt the impacts of TBIs through
science, and her research and body of work reflect her dedication
to helping patients with TBIs. This is why it is particularly
noteworthy that Orlando Health, led by Dr. Papa, will be the first
hospital system in the world to roll out Abbott's i-STAT TBI blood
test. With this new test at their fingertips, Orlando Health
emergency room physicians can now more quickly assess patients
during those critical moments when every second counts.
"Now, doctors are finally armed with a blood test to check your
brain," said Dr. Linda Papa,
Director of Clinical Research at Orlando Health. "This is a
game-changer, and we are just getting started."
New TBI blood test provides rapid results
Abbott's i-STAT TBI test provides results in just 15 minutes by
checking a patient's blood for two biomarkers that may be present
after suffering a brain injury. Test results can help rule out the
need for a CT scan of the head and assist in determining the best
next steps for patient care. Dr. Papa was a pioneer in
identifying the biomarkers used in the TBI blood test and her over
two decades of innovative research played a pivotal role in test
development.
"During a head trauma, a person's brain gets jostled. Damaged
brain cells release two proteins: GFAP and UCH-L1 into their
blood," said Dr. Papa. "The higher the concentrations of these
proteins, the more severe the brain injury. The quicker doctors can
detect these brain injuries, the quicker a patient can get
life-saving treatment. On the flip side, if we find these
biomarkers are not elevated in their blood within 24 hours of
trauma, that may indicate that they do not need to have a CT
scan."
The new TBI blood test is now an innovative tool in a doctor's
toolbox. Currently, CT scans are the most common way to diagnose
brain lesions. However, they are time-consuming, expensive and
associated with radiation exposure. The TBI blood test could cut
down on the need for CT scans. For decades, concussion evaluation
has been the same — utilizing a physical examination of a patient
to subjectively assess a concussion and imaging to detect brain
tissue damage or lesions.
"TBI patients can sometimes be challenging to assess in an
emergency department," said Chris
Davlantes, M.D., senior director of Global Medical &
Scientific Affairs in Abbott's Point of Care Diagnostics division
and practicing ER physician. "During critical moments of
uncertainty, a blood test can add objective information to quickly
assess which patients can be safely sent home without imaging.
We're thrilled to collaborate with Orlando Health, a pioneer in
concussion management, to introduce this important test for
traumatic brain injuries—marking a significant advancement in the
standard of care for patients."
Orlando Health Leads the Way
Each month, Orlando Health ORMC's emergency department sees an
average of 125 patients who have sustained a traumatic brain
injury. Orlando Health ORMC is proud to be home to Central Florida's only Level One Trauma
Center.
"We are incredibly proud to be the first hospital in the world
to roll out this new blood test for traumatic brain injuries," said
Kelly Nierstedt, Senior Vice
President of Orlando Health and President of Orlando Health Orlando
Regional Medical Center. "Dr. Papa is a visionary. Her decades of
trailblazing TBI research highlight Orlando Health's commitment to
patient care and strategic innovation. We are honored to be on the
leading edge of healthcare throughout the entire journey from the
research lab to the patient's bedside."
Now, Dr. Papa is working on evaluating the test in children. She
also continues to be actively involved in Orlando Health's clinical
implementation of Abbott's blood test to help adult patients with
suspected TBIs.
"It was a humble beginning. I started this research by going
around the emergency department asking patients to participate in
our study and collecting blood samples to test for brain injury
biomarkers," said Dr. Papa, "We owe a debt of gratitude to all the
patients and families who agreed to participate in this research
because they helped make this test possible."
Dr. Papa has evaluated different aspects of the blood test
through various studies and has been the lead author of many
studies published in journals such as JAMA Neurology, JAMA Network
Open, Nature Scientific Reports, Journal of Neurotrauma, BMJ
Paediatrics Open, Academic Emergency Medicine, Annals of Emergency
Medicine and Journal of Trauma.
Handout video:
Broll
Soundbites
About Abbott's i-STAT TBI Test
Abbott's i-STAT TBI cartridge received clearance from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used with venous whole
blood in early 2024. This test can be used to help evaluate
patients 18 years and older, up to 24 hours after injury. The
i-STAT TBI cartridge is the latest addition to Abbott's TBI test
portfolio, which also includes the i-STAT TBI Plasma cartridge and
the ARCHITECT® and Alinity i lab test (serum and plasma).
The ability to use whole blood to help assess TBI is an
important step in Abbott's vision to make its tests available in
all settings where people seek care for head injuries including
outside traditional healthcare settings, such as at athletic
facilities. Abbott is engaged in ongoing research and planning that
may, in the future, allow the test to be used with a broader
population including teens and pediatrics. The test is
currently being evaluated for use in the pediatric population age
17 and under.
The i-STAT TBI test was developed in collaboration with the U.S.
Department of Defense U.S. Army Medical Research and Development
Command's (USAMRDC) and U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development
Activity (USAMMDA). The USAMRDC has been dedicated to developing a
solution for the objective detection and evaluation of TBI for more
than two decades and has played a critical role in developing the
TBI test on Abbott's i-STAT Alinity system.
The Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic
Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) research team was the first to demonstrate
how this TBI blood test can be used for the benefit of TBI patients
in clinical care. All clinical trials for the test were run through
the TRACK consortium.
About Orlando Health
Orlando Health is a private not-for-profit, integrated academic
healthcare system with $10.5 billion
of assets under management, that serves the southeastern
United States and Puerto Rico. With corporate offices in
Orlando, Florida the system
provides a complete continuum of care across a network of medical
centers and institutes, community and specialty hospitals,
physician practices, urgent care facilities, skilled nursing
facilities, home healthcare, and long-term and behavioral health
care services. Founded more than 100 years ago, Orlando Health's
mission is to improve the health and the quality of life of the
individuals and communities we serve. The system provided nearly
$1.3 billion in community impact in
the form of community benefit programs and services, Medicare
shortfalls, bad debt, community-building activities and capital
investments in FY 22, the most recent period for which the
information is available. For more information,
visit orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook,
Instagram and X (formerly Twitter.)
Media Contact:
Marlei
Martinez
Marlei.Martinez@orlandohealth.com
(407) 308-2243 cell
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SOURCE Orlando Health, Inc.