Automated heart-type fatty acid-binding protein assay for the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

We compared an automated quantitative heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) assay with other cardiac-marker assays to examine its usefulness as an early diagnostic marker of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Serum samples for cardiac troponin T (cTnT), creatine kinase-MB isozyme (CK-MB), myoglobin, and H-FABP were obtained from 64 patients with AMI and 53 patients with other conditions (control group). H-FABP was measured by using 2 immunoassays, the H-FABP enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; Biocheck, Foster City, CA) and the H-FABP latex turbidimetric immunoassay (LTIA; HBI, Anyang, Korea). Sensitivities of assays for cTnT, CK-MB, myoglobin, H-FABP (by ELISA), H-FABP (by LTIA), and electrocardiogram (ECG) for the diagnosis of AMI at hospital admission were 39.1%, 59.4%, 64.1%, 68.7%, 70.3%, and 54.7%, respectively. Specificities of cTnT, CK-MB, myoglobin, H-FABP (by ELISA), H-FABP (by LTIA), and ECG were 98.1%, 71.7%, 81.1%, 77.4%, 90.6%, and 92.5%, respectively. The automated H-FABP (by LTIA) is superior to cTnT, CK-MB, myoglobin, and H-FABP (by ELISA) tests for the diagnosis of AMI in patients admitted within 4 hours from the onset of chest pain.