Citation

Reisner A, Zohdy YM, Chern JJ, Blackwell LS, Lepard JR, Alawieh A, Verma MS, Kobeissy F, Mulugeta MG, Tyndall JA, Klein BJ, Fariyike OA, Mannix R, Munoz Pareja JC, Wang KK. J. Neurosurg. Pediatr. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Association of Neurological Surgeons)

DOI

10.3171/2024.3.PEDS2446

PMID

38759233

Abstract

TraumaTic brain injury (TBI) is a potentially life-altering or life-ending condition that affects individuals of all ages and walks of life. There is emerging evidence in the adult TBI literature to suggest that biomarkers have the potential to both refine management and predict outcomes. By contrast, pediatric TBI research lags notably behind, largely due to ethical and logistical difficulties in conducting high-quality clinical research in this cohort. Furthermore, children are a developmentally dynamic population, which adds additional complexities to both bench and clinical research. This review summarizes the recent updates in the field of pediatric TBI research and highlights both the promises and challenges of the use of TBI biomarkers in children.

TBI is a major health problem, contributing to an estimated 70 million deaths worldwide each year.1 As alarming as this statistic is, it does not reflect the full extent of this disease, as it does not consider the chronicity of TBI complications nor the wide-ranging burden that TBI survivors exert on public health services. In a recent Lancet Neurology Commission publication, it was noted that not only did TBI have the highest global incidence among the most common neurological conditions, but it also had the highest prevalence, a reflection of the long-term disease burden imparted to survivors. 2

TBI is a condition that affects individuals of all ages, with the extremes of age being particularly vulnerable. The highest frequency of hospital admissions occurs among the elderly (age > 65 years), followed by the pediatric age group (< 21 years). 2 Pediatric TBI results in approximately 500,000 visits to the emergency department in the United States annually.1,2 Although children have an overall lower mortality than adults (approximately 5% of all TBI-related deaths), the true significance of pediatric TBI is better appreciated when measured in terms of years of lost life and years lived with disability, both of which are significantly higher in children compared to adults...

Language: en