Randox Laboratories has launched a new quantitative, automated laboratory assay for Heart-type Fatty Acid Binding Protein (H-FABP) for use in combination with Troponin in the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
H-FABP, a low-weight cytoplasmic protein (15kDa), has been shown to be a highly sensitive & specific biomarker of myocardial ischemia.
Recent trials have shown that H-FABP has highly significant & additive diagnostic value, especially during the early hours following ACS symptom onset.
The results of one recently completed study from the University of Manchester, UK, suggest that using a combination hsTnT, H-FABP and ECG on admission, could act as a highly accurate rule-out test for AMI.
Lead author of the study Rick Body said the combination of H-FABP and troponin is more accurate for early diagnosis than troponin alone and more accurate than other more established biomarker combinations.
Two recent landmark studies from a group based at Leeds General Infirmary, UK, showed that H-FABP offers independent and additive prognostic value across the full spectrum of ACS patients, and is a significant predictor of mortality in both Troponin positive and negative patients.
The Troponin negative patients are of particular importance, as this group are usually stratified as low-risk and frequently may be discharged from hospital.
Recent data from the group also showed that these results hold true even after 6 years of follow-up and, again, even when a highly sensitive Troponin assay is used.