Discover the groundbreaking potential of serum tau protein and myelin basic protein as novel indicators of brain injury in children with congenital heart defects undergoing cardiac surgery.
– by Marv
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Serum tau protein and myelin basic protein in pediatric patients with congenital heart defects undergoing cardiac surgery: preliminary assessment as novel neuromarkers of brain injury.
Chiperi et al., Ir J Med Sci 2023
DOI: 10.1007/s11845-023-03582-5
Oh, What a “Novel” Idea: Chasing Brain Injury Markers in Tiny Hearts
Once upon a time, in the land of cutting-edge research, scientists embarked on a noble quest to find the holy grail of neuromarkers for brain injury in kids with congenital heart defects (CHD). Enter the protagonists of our tale: myelin basic protein (MBP) and protein Tau (pTau), ready for their diagnostic debut in the perioperative spotlight.
Forty little warriors were split into teams based on their oxygen saturation levels—Team Cyanotic and Team Non-Cyanotic. Like clockwork, blood was drawn before surgery, after anesthesia kicked in, and on the first post-op day. These samples were then subjected to the magic of ELISA kits, because why invent new methods when you can use good ol’ commercial ones?
Drumroll, please… Post-op neuromarker levels soared, with Team Non-Cyanotic stealing the statistical significance show (p < 0.0001). But wait, there's more! MBP pre-op levels were playing footsie with albumin, hemoglobin, height, and weight. As for cerebral saturations, they brought out their crystal ball, defining a "significant" drop as a ≥20% nosedive during surgery, as seen through the mystical near-infrared spectroscopy goggles.
And what of our predictive model? Well, pTau strutted its stuff with a somewhat respectable AUC of 0.7 in Team Cyanotic. So, after all the pomp and circumstance, we’ve got elevated pTau and MBP post-op, with pTau being the drama queen in the face of hypoxemia.
In conclusion, MBP and pTau might just be the biomarkers we’ve been waiting for—or not. But hey, at least we’ve got some acceptable numbers to play with until the next big discovery comes along.