@article{ref1,
title="Acute plasma tau relates to prolonged return to play after concussion",
journal="Neurology",
year="2017",
author="Gill, Jessica and Merchant-Borna, Kian and Jeromin, Andreas and Livingston, Whitney and Bazarian, Jeffrey",
volume="88",
number="6",
pages="595-602",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To determine whether tau changes after sport-related concussion (SRC) relate to return to play (RTP). <br><br>METHODS: Collegiate athletes underwent preseason plasma sampling and cognitive testing and were followed. After a SRC (n = 46), athletes and controls (n = 37) had sampling at 6 hours, and at 24 hours, 72 hours, and 7 days after SRC. A sample of 21 nonathlete controls were compared at baseline. SRC athletes were grouped by long (>10 days, n = 23) and short (≤10 days, n = 18) RTP. Total tau was measured using an ultrasensitive immunoassay. <br><br>RESULTS: Both SRC and athlete controls had significantly higher mean tau at baseline compared to nonathlete healthy controls (F101,3 = 19.644, p < 0.01). Compared to SRC athletes with short RTP, those with long RTP had higher tau concentrations overall, after controlling for sex (F39,1 = 3.59, p = 0.022), compared to long RTP athletes, at 6 (p < 0.01), 24 (p < 0.01), and 72 hours (p = 0.02). Receiver operator characteristic analyses showed that higher plasma tau 6 hours post-SRC was a significant predictor of RTP >10 days (area under the curve 0.81; 95% confidence interval 0.62-0.97, p = 0.01). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Elevated plasma tau concentration within 6 hours following a SRC was related to having a prolonged RTP, suggesting that tau levels may help inform RTP.<br><br>Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0028-3878",
doi="10.1212/WNL.0000000000003587",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000003587"
}