BNP is not useful for rapid diagnosis of traumatic brain injury in children.
Computed tomography (CT) of the head — the standard for rapid diagnosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI) — is associated with increased risk for developing cancer, especially thyroid cancer, and the risk is greater in children than in adults. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), which is produced by the hypothalamus and cardiac ventricles, has shown promise as a nonacute serum marker for TBI in adults, but it has not been studied in children. These authors measured serum BNP levels at presentation in 95 consecutive critically injured children (mean age, 6.4 years; 65% male) who presented to a single level I pediatric trauma center in Los Angeles during 2008 and underwent head CT. The decision to obtain CT was based on clinical grounds. The most …