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Document Details :

Title: Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein as a diagnostic biochemical marker for early detection of myocardial infarction
Author(s): M. Hamza , S. Demerdash , M. Ibrahim
Journal: Acta Cardiologica
Volume: 71    Issue: 5   Date: 2016   
Pages: 537-541
DOI: 10.2143/AC.71.5.3167496

Abstract :
Background: Heart-type fatty acid binding protein has been proposed as an early biomarker of myocardial infarction. However, the usefulness of this test is still debatable.
Aims: We compared H-FABP with troponin and CK-MB in the early detection of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with chest pain with regard to sensitivity, specificity and time of detection.
Methods: Blood samples for H-FABP, troponin and CK-MB were obtained from 200 patients presenting with chest pain within the first 6 hours from its onset with suspicious acute coronary syndromes. Serial measurement of troponin and CK-MB were performed. Sensitivity and specificity of the cardiac markers were calculated.
Results: Our study showed better sensitivity of H-FABP than CK-MB and troponin (92.65% vs 54.41% and 61.76%), respectively. It showed also a specificity of 75.00%, 87.50% and 93.75% for FABP, CK-MB and troponin, respectively.
Conclusion: Qualitative H-FABP test showed a higher sensitivity than CK-MB and cTnI in the early detection of myocardial infarction. However, the combination with troponin is necessary to confirm the diagnosis or exclusion of acute myocardial infarction.