A concern for patients who present with severe chest pain is that
they are more likely to experience another cardiovascular event within a
few weeks or months. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
evaluated the performance of a hsTnI assay (Abbott, ARCHITECT) with the
performance of a fourth generation troponin T assay (Roche, TnT) among
4,695 patients presenting with severe chest pain and found that the
hsTnI assay identified more patients at higher risk of recurrent heart
attack, even at very low troponin concentrations.
"The ability to identify patients at higher risk for another heart
attack or cardiovascular death is an essential step in their
prevention," said Dr. Petr Jarolim, M.D., Ph.D., one of the key authors
of the study and Medical Director, Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory
Control, Brigham and Women's Hospital. "This study demonstrates that the
new high sensitivity cardiac troponin assays are efficient tools for
classifying patients, allowing doctors to provide more aggressive
treatment of those at higher risk."
Cardiac troponin, a protein found in the heart muscle, is considered
the preferred biomarker used to identify suspected heart attacks,
because it can detect injury to the heart.1 Abbott’s ARCHITECT STAT hsTnI
assay can measure very low levels of the protein, which allows doctors
to evaluate whether or not patients are having a heart attack within two
to four hours after presentation.2 This faster evaluation
could allow doctors to reduce the time to diagnosis and treatment by
several hours when compared to standard troponin tests.
"This study adds to the clinical evidence confirming the advantages
of Abbott’s high sensitive troponin test to provide more insight to
clinicians about which patients are at greater risk for a future heart
attack as compared to contemporary tests," said John Frels, PhD,
divisional vice president, Diagnostics Research, Abbott. "This is
important information for patient care because it may help doctors focus
on the patients at greater risk for appropriate management."
The abstract for this study was selected as the first annual
recipient of the Biomarkers of Acute Cardiac Disease Division
Outstanding Abstract Award. The committee awarded a grant for
outstanding abstract to one of the key authors of the study, Dr. Petr
Jarolim (Brigham and Women’s Hospital).
The ARCHITECT STAT hsTnI assay is commercially available in Europe and runs on Abbott’s fully-automated ARCHITECT family of analyzers.
Source: Abbott
