Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein in the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

To investigate the diagnostic and prognostic role of heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (hFABP) compared with copeptin and in addition to high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) in patients with chest pain suspected of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Diagnostic and prognostic performances of hFABP, copeptin and hs-cTnT were evaluated and compared. The final diagnosis was adjudicated by two independent cardiologists.This prospective observational multicentre study took place in four primary and one secondary hospital from April 2006 to September 2009.We enrolled 1247 consecutive patients with suspected AMI to the emergency department. For analysis, patients were included, if baseline levels for hs-cTnT and hFABP were available (n=1074), patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were excluded for the diagnostic analysis (n=43).Treatment was left to the discretion of the emergency physician.AMI and mortality.4% of the patients had STEMI and 16% of the patients had non-STEMI. Patients with AMI had significantly higher levels of hFABP at presentation (p0.05). The negative predictive value regarding 90-day, 1-year and 2-year mortality was 100% (99-100), 99% (98-100) and 98% (96-99), respectively, for hFABP levels below the median (

One-hour rule-in and rule-out of acute myocardial infarction using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I

We aimed to prospectively derive and validate a novel 1h-algorithm using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) for early rule-out and rule-in of acute myocardial infarction.; We performed a prospective multicenter diagnostic study enrolling 1811 patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction. The final diagnosis was centrally adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists using all available information, including coronary angiography, echocardiography, follow-up data, and serial measurements of hs-cTnT (but not hs-cTnI). The hs-cTnI 1h-algorithm, incorporating measurements performed at baseline and absolute changes within 1 hour, was derived in a randomly selected sample of 906 patients (derivation cohort), and then validated in the remaining 905 patients (validation cohort).; Acute myocardial infarction was the final diagnosis in 18% of patients. After applying the hs-cTnI 1h-algorithm developed in the derivation cohort to the validation cohort, 50.5% of patients could be classified as "rule-out," 19% as "rule-in," 30.5% as "observe." In the validation cohort, the negative predictive value for acute myocardial infarction in the "rule-out" zone was 99.6% (95% confidence interval, 98.4%-100%), and the positive predictive value for acute myocardial infarction in the "rule-in" zone was 73.9% (95% confidence interval, 66.7%-80.2%). Negative predictive value of the 1h-algorithm was higher compared with the classical dichotomous interpretation of hs-cTnI and to the standard of care combining hs-cTnI with the electrocardiogram (both P > .001). Positive predictive value also was higher compared with the standard of care (P > .001).; Using a simple algorithm incorporating baseline hs-cTnI values and the absolute change within the first hour allows safe rule-out as well as accurate rule-in of acute myocardial infarction in 70% of patients presenting with suspected acute myocardial infarction

Comparison of the performances of cardiac troponins, including sensitive assays, and copeptin in the diagnostic of acute myocardial infarction and long-term prognosis between women and men

Concerns have been raised about possible gender disparities in cardiac investigations and/or outcome. This study sought to examine and compare the diagnostic and prognostic performance of selected cardiac biomarkers in women versus men.In a prospective, multicenter cohort of patients with acute chest pain cardiac troponin T (cTnT) (fourth-generation Roche assay), high-sensitivity cTnT (hs-cTnT), and copeptin were measured at presentation.Of 1,247 patients, 420 were women and 827 were men. Although the rate of acute myocardial infarction was similar in women (14.5%) and men (16.6%, P = .351), women more frequently had cardiac but noncoronary causes of chest pain (17.4% vs 10.8%, P = .001) and less frequently had unstable angina (8.8% vs 16.6%, P = .002) than men. Diagnostic accuracy as quantified by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for acute myocardial infarction in women was 0.90 (95% CI 0.84-0.95) for cTnT, which was lower than the AUC for hs-cTnT alone (0.94, 95% CI [0.91-0.98]), the combination of cTnT with copeptin (0.96, 95% CI [0.94-0.98]) or the combination of hs-cTnT with copeptin (0.96, 95% CI [0.93-0.98]) (P = .008, P = .006, and P = .002, respectively). Prognostic accuracy as quantified by the AUCs for 1-year mortality was 0.69 (0.56-0.83), 0.86 (0.79-0.93), 0.87 (0.81-0.94), and 0.87 (0.80-0.94), respectively. No relevant gender differences in AUCs were observed.The diagnostic and prognostic performance of cTnT, hs-cTnT, and copeptin is as good in women as in men. High-sensitivity cTnT and the combination of cTnT and copeptin outperform cTnT alone, both in women and men