Abbott' Troponin Test May Help Diagnose Heart Attacks in Women

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today promising preliminary results from a study presented at the ESC Congress 2013, suggesting that its high sensitive troponin test may help doctors improve the diagnosis and prognosis of patients presenting with symptoms of a heart attack.[1] The test could be particularly beneficial for women, who may have different presenting symptoms and are often under-diagnosed.[2] The study, which is being conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, is evaluating Abbott's ARCHITECT STAT High Sensitive Troponin-I (hsTnI) test, which received CE Mark in January 2013.Cardiac troponin, a protein found in the heart muscle, is considered the preferred biomarker to identify suspected heart attacks, because it can detect injury to the heart.[3] Abbott's hsTnI test can measure very low levels of this protein, which is especially important for women, who often have lower levels of troponin than men.[4]Researchers shared data from the first 1,126 patients of the study presenting with symptoms of a heart attack. Early findings demonstrate that women have lower peak levels of troponin than men, contributing to the under-diagnosis and therefore under-treatment of heart attacks for women. See full press release