Background Serum biomarker S100B has been explored for its potential benefit to improve clinical decision-making in the management of patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI), especially as a pre-head computed-tomography screening test for patients with mild TBI. Although being already included into some guidelines, its implementation into standard care is still lacking. This might be explained by a turnaround time (TAT) too long for serum S100B to be used in clinical decision-making in emergency settings. Methods S100B concentrations were determined in 136 matching pairs of serum and lithium heparin blood samples. The concordance of the test results was assessed by linear regression, Passing Pablok regression and Bland-Altman analysis. Bias and within- and between-run imprecision were determined by a 5 × 4 model using pooled patient samples. CT scans were performed as clinically indicated. Results Overall, S100B levels between both blood constituents correlated very well. The suitability of S100B testing from plasma was verified according to ISO15189 requirements. Using a cut-off of 0.105 ng/ml, a sensitivity and negative predictive value of 100% were obtained for identifying patients with pathologic CT scans. Importantly, plasma-based testing reduced the TAT to 26 min allowing for quicker clinical decision-making. The clinical utility of integrating S100B in TBI management is highlighted by two case reports. Conclusions Plasma-based S100B testing compares favorably with serum-based testing, substantially reducing processing times as the prerequisite for integrating S100B level into management of TBI patients. The proposed new clinical decision algorithm for TBI management needs to be validated in further prospective large-scale studies.
Since 2006 the practical year in the Mannheim Reformed Curriculum Medicine (MaReCuM) is divided into four quarters: the two required subjects (surgery and internal medicine), one elective and one of four offered fields in ambulatory medicine. Therefore students can more intensively focus on their preferences in the practical year. In the present article we describe the provided surgical training sites, the organisation of the practical year, the surgical training itself and the quality management. We provide answers to the following questions: does dividing the practical year into quarters have a (negative) influence on the grades of final exams; how interested, motivated and satisfied are students in the different (surgical) quarters of the practical year and in which quarter(s) can new generation staff be recruited? We used results of the final exams of three cohorts of the traditional Mannheim track and three cohorts of MaReCuM, as well as the results of the Mannheim Questionnaire of Satisfaction with Training Conditions in the Practical Year of Medical Education from the regular evaluation of three practical year cohorts within two years. Dividing the practical year into quarters is possible and can be organised together with the new "mandatory subject" ambulatory medicine. The introduction of quarters has no negative effects on the results of final exams. The assignment in the surgical field from students' perspectives with regard to motivation, interest, knowledge and satisfaction with training is comparable to surgical electives. Therefore recruitment of new staff is possible either in the surgical elective or in the surgical area of ambulatory medicine.
Objective In Germany, among patients with minor head injury (MHI), the incidence of coexisting alcohol intoxication is indicated up to 50%. The neurological symptoms of patients with MHI may be caused or altered by alcohol intoxication, this could mislead to further, potential harmful, diagnostic steps or to misinterpretation of the symptoms and to non-execution of necessary treatments. In order to decide which patients need further diagnostics by CCT, S100B has been proposed as a potential selection criterion. On the other hand, studies have hypothesized that alcohol intoxication may lead to elevated S100B serum levels. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the relationship between the blood ethyl alcohol concentration and the S100B serum concentration in an experimental setting in young human adult volunteers. Methods In a cohort of 58 healthy volunteers, serum S100B concentration and blood ethyl alcohol concentration were measured before and after liberately drinking alcohol. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty Mannheim (Ethics Committee II, AZ 2012-272 N-MA). Instantaneous analysis of the samples was carried out using state-of-the art automated measuring systems. (Analyzer Cobas e411, Roche and Analyzer Dimension Vista 1500, Siemens). Results After drinking, alcohol levels ranged from 0,23 to 1,92 g/l. The S100B value ranged from to 0,021 to 0,115 µg/l after alcohol consumption (S100B standard value < 0,11 µg/l). By calculating the Pearson correlation of empirical correlation after drinking alcohol with r = 0.01181, a correlation between serum S100B concentration and ethyl alcohol concentration is not probable. The S100B concentrations were independent on the alcohol intake in low to medium alcohol levels. Conclusion A relevant alcohol blood concentration (~ 1 g/l), in otherwise healthy volunteers, does not affect the serum concentration of S100B. S100B may be a useful brain injury marker in low to moderate drunken patients.
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