Schmid Kara E, Tortella Frank C
Brain Trauma Neuroprotection and Neurorestoration Department, Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Front Neurol. 2012 Jun 12;3:90. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2012.00090. eCollection 2012.
The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have placed an increased awareness on traumatic brain injury (TBI). Various publications have estimated the incidence of TBI for our deployed servicemen, however all have been based on extrapolations of data sets or subjective evaluations due to our current method of diagnosing a TBI. Therefore it has been difficult to get an accurate rate and severity of deployment related TBIs, or the incidence of multiple TBIs our service members are experiencing. As such, there is a critical need to develop a rapid objective method to diagnose TBI on the battlefield. Because of the austere environment of the combat theater the ideal diagnostic platform faces numerous logistical constraints not encountered in civilian trauma centers. Consequently, a simple blood test to diagnosis TBI represents a viable option for the military. This perspective will provide information on some of the current options for TBI biomarkers, detail concerning battlefield constraints, and a possible acquisition strategy for the military. The end result is a non-invasive TBI diagnostic platform capable of providing much needed advances in objective triage capabilities and improved clinical management of in-Theater TBI.
伊拉克和阿富汗的冲突使人们对创伤性脑损伤（TBI）的关注度日益提高。各种出版物对我们部署的军人中创伤性脑损伤的发病率进行了估计，然而，由于我们目前诊断创伤性脑损伤的方法，所有这些估计都是基于数据集的推断或主观评估。因此，很难获得与部署相关的创伤性脑损伤的准确发生率和严重程度，或者我们的军人所经历的多重创伤性脑损伤的发生率。因此，迫切需要开发一种在战场上快速客观诊断创伤性脑损伤的方法。由于作战区域环境恶劣，理想的诊断平台面临着民用创伤中心未曾遇到的众多后勤限制。因此，一种简单的用于诊断创伤性脑损伤的血液检测对军方来说是一个可行的选择。这一观点将提供有关创伤性脑损伤生物标志物的一些当前选择的信息、有关战场限制的详细情况以及军方可能的获取策略。最终结果是一个非侵入性的创伤性脑损伤诊断平台，能够在客观分诊能力和改善战区创伤性脑损伤的临床管理方面取得急需的进展。
