Details

This single center study at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) will enroll patients with acute traumatic cervical and thoracic SCI who will have blood samples obtained daily for the first week post-injury. They will then have follow-up neurologic assessments at 6 and 12 months post-injury. The specific aims of the study are to: Validate serum Glial Acidic Fibrillary Protein (GFAP) and Neurofilament Light Chain (NF-L) as biomarkers of acute SCI for classifying injury severity and predicting neurologic recovery. Establish the relationship between serum and plasma levels of GFAP and NFL Establish the accuracy of point of care devices for measuring GFAP in serum, plasma, and whole blood. Support biospecimen collection for the International Spinal Cord Injury Biobank (ISCIB)