H-FABP concentrations found predictive of adverse events in acute coronary syndrome patients
TUESDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- Obtaining the concentration of heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may help physicians identify high-risk patients who are troponin-negative, according to research published in the June 8 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Karthik Viswanathan, M.D., of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and colleagues collected samples from 955 patients presenting with suspected ACS to establish the prognostic value of measuring H-FABP in that patient population in addition to measuring troponin.
Death, or readmission with a myocardial infarction, after a median follow-up of 18 months occurred in 96 patients (10.1 percent). The researchers found the H-FABP concentration to be an independent predictor of mortality or myocardial infarction. Patients with H-FABP concentrations greater than 6.48 µg/L were found to have a significantly increased risk of adverse events. Among the 79.2 percent of the cohort comprising troponin-negative patients, the cutoff of 6.48 µg/L classified patients at very high risk for adverse outcomes.
"We have demonstrated that the prognostic value of elevated H-FABP is additive to troponin in low- and intermediate-risk patients with suspected ACS. Other studies suggest that our observations reflect the value of H-FABP as a marker of myocardial ischemia, even in the absence of frank necrosis," the authors write.
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics donated troponin assays for the study, and three authors received grants from pharmaceutical and medical device companies, including Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.
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