Stroke
From imaging-based to biomarker-based diagnosis
Stroke is the second most common cause of death in the western world. Therapeutic efficacy depends on timely diagnosis at the site of primary care. Whereas biomarkers are available for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (e.g., troponin), no such markers exist for the diagnosis of stroke. However, stroke markers would eliminate the need for imaging procedures, which are expensive and cannot be performed until the patient has been hospitalized, i.e., at a time when it is often too late for treatment to be effective.
Metabolomics opens the doors for the development of a diagnostic point-of-care test for stroke. Stroke-specific biomarkers will also support the differential diagnosis between hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke—a differentiation that is important because it determines the choice of treatment, with the anticoagulants and antithrombotics used for ischemic stroke clearly contraindicated in patients with hemorrhagic stroke. Considering that annually some 15 million people worldwide die of the consequences of stroke, specific biomarkers have the potential to save thousands of lives every year.
