ABSTRACT
Severe Central Nervous System (CNS) injuries, including Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), are common causes of disability resulting from trauma. In CNS injury, the important factors which determine the prognosis of patients are the severity of the primary injury (at the time of traumatic impact) and the ensuing secondary injury. Successful management of SCI also depends on accurate diagnosis of primary injury and prevention of delayed secondary injury. Recently innovations in the fi eld of biomarkers have been made; as yet there is no consensus on their clinical use for SCI. The aims of this chapter are therefore to evaluate the current status of protein biomarkers in SCI, and to discuss their potential diagnostic and prognostic value for SCI. We will also present novel biomarker data from CSF and plasma in SCI, both in animal models and patients.
