Serum
biomarkers related to the cascade of inflammatory,
hemostatic, glial and neuronal perturbations have been identifed to diagnose and characterize
intracerebral hemorrhage and
cerebral ischemia. Interpretation of most markers is confounded by their latent rise, blood-brain barrier effects, the heterogeneity of etiologies and the wide range of normal values, limiting their application for early diagnosis, lesion size estimation and long-term outcome prediction. Certain
hemostatic and inflammatory constituents have been found to predict response to thrombolysis and worsening due to
infarct progression and secondary
hemorrhage, offering a potential role for improved treatment selection and individualization of
therapy.
Biomarkers will become increasingly relevant for developing targets for neuroprotective
therapies, monitoring response to treatment and as
surrogate end points for treatment trials.