Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein as a diagnostic biochemical marker for early detection of myocardial infarction

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.