Test Aids Diagnosis of Heart Attack in ED Patients

A new blood test used in conjunction with troponin to aid the diagnosis of heart attack in patients presenting to emergency departments with chest pain has been shown to be far superior to the use of troponin alone. About six million people in the United States alone annually present at emergency departments with chest pain, while in Europe the number is about seven million.

The test, called albumin cobalt binding (ACB) detects a protein in blood known as ischemia modified albumin (IMA). Clinical studies have shown that IMA is an early marker in patients suffering a heart attack and is elevated during cardiac ischemia. The ACB test has received the CE Mark. A multicenter clinical study showed that the use of the test for IMA with troponin identified 50% of all heart attack patients at the first blood draw, compared to only 20% of such patients using cardiac troponin alone. The test was developed by Ischemia Technologies, Inc. (Denver, CO, USA).

"With CE marking, we have started selling the ACB test to European hospitals and physicians interested in improving the speed and accuracy of managing patients with chest pain,” said Peter Crosby, president and CEO of Ischemia Technologies.


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