Cardiac Testing

Vivacta is developing a multiple analyte cardiac diagnostic test for use in the emergency room and acute care settings, where there is a need for more rapid confirmatory diagnosis of heart attack and exclusion of other reasons for chest pain.

The most important cardiac marker is troponin, an enzyme released into the blood stream by heart muscle under stress, for example during a heart attack. An increase in the sensitivity of troponin assays and their provision in the emergency room itself ie. at the point of care, are expected to allow earlier and more rapid triage of patients presenting to hospital with chest pain.

Other markers important in diagnosing chest pain patients in emergency room situations include brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), which is also released into the bloodstream by heart muscle when under stress. Both BNP and its inactive N-terminal fragment, NTproBNP, are clinically accepted markers for heart failure. Rapid testing for these markers at the point of care will provide critical care physicians with earlier diagnostic information to make optimal treatment decisions.

Point-of-Care diagnostics for cardiac markers also have utility outside the emergency room. Patients suffering from chronic heart failure benefit from remote monitoring using wireless technology. The implementation of such monitoring has been shown to reduce deaths and hospitalisations in such patients. Regular testing of cardiac biomarkers, such as troponin and BNP (or NTproBNP), in chronic heart failure patients may further enhance these benefits.

In the European Union, there are at least 15 million patients with heart failure and its prevalence is increasing owing to the ageing population . Most patients at risk of heart failure are cared for by primary care physicians. New tools, such as point-of-care assays for cardiac biomarkers may provide earlier and more accurate diagnosis and better therapeutic care.