(Press-News.org) A blood biomarker yet to be used in cardiac arrest care can give a clearer picture of the extent of brain damage after a cardiac arrest. This has been shown in a large international multicentre study led by researchers at Lund University that has been published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Worldwide, around four million people each year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest
“This will transform care for these patients,” says researcher Marion Moseby Knappe.
Key facts about the study: clinical prospective multicentre study // 819 patients // out-of- hospital cardiac arrest //
A simple blood test that can very accurately predict the chance of survival with good recovery will be of great significance for patients in intensive care after a cardiac arrest.
This assertion comes from the researchers behind a large multicentre study in which four brain damage biomarkers in the blood were compared to ascertain how reliably they could estimate the extent of brain damage among unconscious patients after cardiac arrest.
“All those admitted to intensive care after cardiac arrest are unconscious and there is always uncertainty about how long this care is to continue. If the blood test shows that the chances are not exhausted it’s reasonable to continue intensive care. But if it’s clear there are no conditions for survival with a functional status associated with a good life, transition to a palliative phase could be considered,” says Niklas Nielsen, professor of anaesthesiology and intensive care at Lund University and consultant in intensive care at Helsingborg Hospital, who led the study.
The results show that the two brain biomarkers routinely used in care for different types of brain damage – neuron-specific enolase and S-100 protein – have significant limitations regarding the prognosis assessment for brain damage after cardiac arrest.
The study confirms previous preliminary results by comparing four biomarkers using an analysis method that can be applied in clinical settings.
“We saw that the biomarker neurofilament light, NFL, correctly identifies 92 per cent of all patient outcomes at six months after the cardiac arrest,” says Marion Moseby Knappe, researcher at Lund University and associate consultant in rehabilitation medicine at Skåne University Hospital, one of the researchers behind the study and the first author.
Neurofilament light is already used as a brain biomarker, for example in the care of patients with the neurological disease, MS. Another of the biomarkers in the study – GFAP – was better at estimating the extent of brain damage than those in current clinical use.
“NFL was superior to the other three biomarkers. It’s better at differentiating between patients with major and minor brain damage, and can also give an answer as quickly as 24 hours after the cardiac arrest. The biomarker is also more stable in the blood, which is significant in the measurement process,” says Marion Moseby Knappe.
Niklas Nielsen points out that the blood test on its own can never be used as a basis for a decision to end intensive care. The decision also requires information from other sources such as X-ray examinations or analysis of electrical activity in the brain.
“Overall, the new findings are significant for a reliable assessment of the chance of waking up after a cardiac arrest,” says Niklas Nielsen.
The study, conducted at 24 hospitals in Europe, included 819 adult patients, of whom 661 were men. Blood samples were taken from the participants at 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours after the person was admitted to hospital. All samples were analysed by the same machine.
About the study
The present study was conducted as part of a large international clinical study (Hypothermia versus Normothermia after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (TTM2 trial), published in NEJM 2021) in which patients who suffered cardiac arrest were randomly assigned for treatment with body cooling to 33°C or treatment at normal temperature. This study showed no difference in survival rates or recovery, which led to cooling no longer being recommended in international guidelines.
Cardiac Arrest
Worldwide, around four million people each year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest. In Sweden, the figure for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is 6,000. Brain cells begin to die a few minutes after a sudden cardiac arrest, and the more time that passes before blood circulation is restored, the greater the risk of permanent brain damage.
Even if the heart is restarted, many patients remain unconscious for hours or days afterwards and physicians then try to determine the severity of the brain damage – and if recovery is possible. The basis for this evaluation includes neurological examinations and brain imaging – and there is a brain damage biomarker that can be measured in blood samples.
END
Blood test reveals prognosis after cardiac arrest
2025-12-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
UBCO study finds microdosing can temporarily improve mood, creativity
2025-12-12
A new UBC Okanagan study found that people who microdose psychedelics feel better on the days they take them—but those boosts don’t seem to last.
This suggests, says Dr. Michelle St. Pierre, that perceived benefits may be acute rather than long lasting.
Dr. St. Pierre is a post-doctoral psychology researcher with UBCO’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She recently published a study in Psychopharmacology that tracks the daily experiences of people who microdose with psychedelics.
Microdosing involves ingesting small amounts of a psychedelic substance, commonly psilocybin mushrooms or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).
“Most ...
An ECOG-ACRIN imaging study solves a long-standing gap in metastatic breast cancer research and care: accurately measuring treatment response in patients with bone metastases
2025-12-11
A prospective, multicenter cancer clinical trial by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) has validated an improved method for predicting treatment benefits in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancer that has spread primarily or exclusively to the bones. These patients make up a large portion of individuals who are living with advanced breast cancer—yet are routinely excluded from clinical trials that rely on standard imaging-based assessments (i.e., RECIST 1.1). The study demonstrated that metabolic change assessed by FDG-PET/CT accurately predicted progression-free ...
Cleveland Clinic presents final results of phase 1 clinical trial of preventive breast cancer vaccine study
2025-12-11
December 11, 2025, CLEVELAND: Cleveland Clinic researchers are presenting final Phase 1 data from their novel study of a vaccine aimed at preventing triple-negative breast cancer, the most aggressive and lethal form of the disease.
The study team found that the investigational vaccine produced an immune response in the majority (74%) of all participants and was safe and well tolerated. They determined the maximum tolerated dose and described that side effects primarily consisted of mild skin inflammation at the injection site. The findings, which will inform the ...
Nationally renowned anesthesiology physician-scientist and clinical operations leader David Mintz, MD, PhD, named Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the UM School of Medicine
2025-12-11
University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, along with University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) President Bert O’Malley, MD, today announced the appointment of C. David Mintz, MD, PhD, to be the next Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, and Chief of the Anesthesiology Clinical Service (“Chief of Anesthesiology”) at UMMC. Dr. Mintz, a neuroanesthesiologist and nationally recognized leader in research, education, and perioperative operations, will be installed as the Martin Helrich Endowed Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology. He will begin his new position in July, 2026.
Dr. Mintz brings an ...
Clean water access improves child health in Mozambique, study shows
2025-12-11
In Mozambique, more than one in three children under five suffer from stunting, or impaired physical growth, a sign of chronic undernutrition. New research from the University of Notre Dame shows that improving access to safe drinking water can reduce the odds of stunting by about 20 percent, making it the most effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) intervention for child growth.
The study, published in the journal Children, is one of the few studies to use nationally representative data from Mozambique to examine the independent and combined effects of access to water and sanitation on child growth outcomes (stunting ...
Study implicates enzyme in neurodegenerative conditions
2025-12-11
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have identified a type of enzyme with a complicated name — cell migration inducing and hyaluronan-binding protein, or CEMIP — is associated with disorders ranging from multiple sclerosis to stroke to neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
The next step is to develop a way to target the enzyme to heal or slow the progression of disease.
In a study published in the journal ASN Neuro, researchers describe their path to implicating CEMIP in cell culture, mice and deceased human tissue. Researchers found this specific enzyme is ...
Tufts professor named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
2025-12-11
James (Jim) Schwob, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Election as an academy fellow is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. The NAI was founded to recognize and encourage inventors with U.S. patents and enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation.
This year’s fellows include Nobel Prize winners and recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and Medal of Science. The group, which holds over 5,300 issued U.S. patents, includes members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, among others.
The ...
Tiny new device could enable giant future quantum computers
2025-12-11
Researchers have made a major advance in quantum computing with a new device that is nearly 100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the breakthrough optical phase modulators could help unlock much larger quantum computers by enabling efficient control of lasers required to operate thousands or even millions of qubits—the basic units of quantum information.
Critically, the team of scientists have developed these devices using scalable manufacturing, avoiding complex, custom builds in favor of those used to make the same technology behind ...
Tracing a path through photosynthesis to food security
2025-12-11
The energy that plants capture from sunlight through photosynthesis provides the source of nearly all of humanity’s food. Yet the process of photosynthesis has inefficiencies that limit crop productivity, especially in a rapidly changing world. A new review by University of Illinois scientists and collaborators reflects on how improving photosynthesis can bring us closer to food security.
The review, which was published in Cell, was coauthored by plant biology professors Stephen Long, Amy Marshall-Colon, and Lisa Ainsworth. ...
First patient in Arizona treated with new immune-cell therapy at HonorHealth Research Institute
2025-12-11
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Dec. 11, 2025 — A patient with synovial sarcoma, a soft-tissue cancer that usually occurs in the large joints of the arms and legs, is the first in Arizona treated with a new immune-cell-therapy known as TECELRA at the HonorHealth Research Institute.
This new cell therapy targets a protein associated with the MAGEA4 gene, which is commonly expressed in synovial sarcoma and often occurs in the extremities, such as in the knees, though it can occur almost anywhere in the body.
“The patient tolerated the cell infusion well, with early signs of tumor shrinkage,” said Justin Moser, M.D., an associate clinical ...