Diagnosing a stroke is often difficult because the symptoms vary widely and resemble those of various other conditions. CT scans are good at spotting bleeds, but far less reliable at picking up the early stages of strokes caused by clots. "The lack of a rapid diagnostic for stroke is a huge problem," says Daniel Laskowitz, a neurologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Speed matters because clot-dissolving drugs are now available that can reduce brain damage if given within 3 hours of a stroke. Yet fewer than half of patients who get to hospital in time and are eligible for the drugs actually receive them, a recent study in the US found. Now diagnostics company Biosite of San Diego, California, is developing a test that would involve putting a few drops of blood into a cartridge and placing it in a small portable machine. Results are obtained within 15 minutes. "In theory, this could go into ambulances. It's very convenient and practical.
Every emergency room can have it," says Laskowitz, a consultant for Biosite. The test works by detecting a set of six brain proteins released into the blood during strokes. Laskowitz says studies by other groups had shown that certain proteins are released into the blood during strokes, but no single one is a reliable indicator. So Biosite looked at dozens of blood samples to see if particular combinations of proteins are characteristic of a stroke.
The company found a combination of six
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Contact: Claire Bowles
claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk
44-207-331-2751
New Scientist
17-Mar-2004