Serum S100B as a predictor of Neuropsychological outcomes following Traumatic Brain Injury

Empirically, depth of coma and duration of post-traumatic amnesia offer insufficient prognostic accuracy for neuropsychological outcomes following TBI. Recently, serum S100B has been proposed in the associated literature as a potential prognostic biomarker for outcome following TBI. Unfortunately, most of the studies investigating S100B have utilised crude outcome measures or mortality as the dependent variable in research design. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between S100B levels and existing TBI diagnostic measures, and to quantify its ability to predict future cognitive impairment, post-concussion syndrome symptomatology, and quality of life. 127 participants who presented to the Royal Hobart Hospital following a TBI were recruited for this longitudinal study. On presentation, serum samples were collected, freeze-stored, and then batch analysed for acute S100B levels. Participants completed a cognitive battery two months post injury, and then completed the British Columbia Post-Concussion Inventory and the Quality of Life Inventory six months post injury. S100B levels were significantly correlated with depth of coma and duration of post-traumatic amnesia, and regression analyses showed that duration of post-traumatic amnesia could be predicted accurately by using S100B. Serum S100B concentrations accounted for a significant proportion of variance in various symptoms of post-concussion syndrome and poorer quality of life ‚Äö- however, S100B in isolation offers insufficient prognostic accuracy for these clinical outcomes. Unfortunately, however, S100B was not able to predict future cognitive impairment, suggesting that cognitive prognoses based on biological factors alone while in an acute setting remain elusive, if not illusive.