Abbott has unveiled preliminary results from a study that is being carried out by the University of Edinburgh researchers on the company’s Architect Stat High Sensitive Troponin-I (hsTnI) test, at ESC (European Society of Cardiology) congress.
The hsTnI test, which can measure very low levels of Cardiac troponin, could be particularly beneficial for women, who may have different presenting symptoms and are often under-diagnosed.
The investigators reported the data from first 1,126 patients of the study presenting with symptoms of a heart attack.
The study, which is expected to complete in 2016 will include more than 25,000 patients across ten centers in Scotland, making it one of the largest studies to evaluate the impact of high sensitive troponin tests on patient care.
The study was funded by a special project grant from the British Heart Foundation with Abbott providing the ARCHITECT STAT hsTnI assay.
Abbott Diagnostics Research divisional vice president John Frels noted while the company's high sensitive troponin test benefits both men and women with earlier detection of heart attacks, the potential to increase the diagnosis among women is especially important.
"This is the first time we have seen a test that can provide this kind of detailed information to doctors and has the potential to aid doctors with improving the odds of survival for women with heart attacks," Frels added.
The assay runs on Abbott's fully automated Architect family of analyzers and is currently available for research-use only in the US.
The assay is approved in several countries in Europe, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
