Abstract Background: Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a major cause of morbidity following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), yet early prediction remains challenging. This study aimed to identify blood-based protein biomarkers within 24 hours of ICU admission associated with DCI using high-throughput proteomics. Methods: We conducted a prospective longitudinal study including 86 aSAH patients, of whom 28 developed DCI. For this exploratory analysis, we matched 8 patients who developed DCI with 8 controls without DCI based on age, sex, and severity scores. Plasma samples were analyzed using the Olink® Explore 3072 platform targeting 2,943 proteins. Differential expression analysis was performed using linear Bayesian models with FDR correction. Results: We identified 15 significantly dysregulated proteins (p Conclusions: Our findings suggest a distinct early molecular signature in aSAH patients who develop DCI, characterized by pro-inflammatory and neurovascular dysfunction markers. These candidate biomarkers warrant further validation in larger cohorts and may guide early risk stratification and therapeutic interventions.
Colomina et al. (Wed,) studied this question.