Acute S100B in serum is associated with cognitive symptoms and memory performance 4 months after paediatric mild traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective: This study explored whether acute serum marker S100B is related with post-concussive symptoms (PCS) and neuropsychological performance 4 months after paediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Research design and methods: This prospective short-term longitudinal study investigated children (aged 6–16 years) with mTBI (n = 36, 16 males) and children with orthopaedic injuries (OI, n = 27, 18 males) as a control group. S100B in serum was measured during the acute phase and was correlated with parent-rated PCS and neuropsychological performance 4 months after the injury.

Main outcomes and results: The results revealed no between-group difference regarding acute S100B serum concentration. In children after mTBI, group-specific significant Spearman correlations were found between S100B and post-acute cognitive PCS (r = 0.54, p = 0.001) as well as S100B and verbal memory performance (r = −0.47, p = 0.006). In children after OI, there were insignificant positive relations between S100B and post-acute somatic PCS. In addition, insignificant positive correlations were found between neuropsychological outcome and S100B in children after OI.

Conclusions: S100B was not specific for mild brain injuries and may also be elevated after OI. The group-specific association between S100B and ongoing cognitive PCS in children after mTBI should motivate to examine further the role of S100B as a diagnostic biomarker in paediatric mTBI.

• Biomarker S100B serum
• neuropsychological outcome
• paediatric mild traumatic brain injury
• post-concussive symptoms

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all parents and children for participating in this research project. In addition, we would like to thank the psychology graduate students Venera Gashaj (MSc), Sandra Hartmann (MSc) and Elisabeth Ruprecht (MSc) for helping with data collection.

Declaration of interest

The project this manuscript is based on was funded by the following foundations: the Johanna Dürmüller-Bol Foundation, the Batzebär Foundation of the University Children’s Hospital of Bern and the Anna Müller-Grocholski Foundation. Martina Studer received salary support from the Anna Müller-Grocholski Foundation and the Batzebär Foundation. The authors report no conflicts of interest.