PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Sara Altinier

Publications and source records attributed to Sara Altinier.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Innotrac Aio!: a point-of-care or a routine analyzer? Analytical performance and plasma/whole blood comparison.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the analytical performance of the Innotrac Aio! analyzer in measuring the cardiac markers troponin I (TnI), myoglobin (Myo) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), both in lithium heparin plasma and in whole blood. RESULTS: TnI analytical sensitivity was 0.012 microg/L and the concentration corresponding to CV=10% was 0.036 microg/L. In healthy subjects, the 99th percentile TnI values were 0.023 and 0.016 microg/L in whole blood and in plasma, respectively. One hundred samples were tested both in whole blood and in plasma: TnI-whole-blood=1.16-plasma+0.011, bias=+0.18 (95% CI from -0.22 to +0.59); Myo-whole-blood=1.04-plasma-1.93, bias=+1.08 (95% CI from -6.17 to +8.32); CK-MB-whole-blood=1.11-plasma-0.09, bias=+0.96 (95% CI from -0.53 to +2.45). The method comparison with the RxL Dimension analyzer for TnI and Myo gave the following results: TnI Aio!=0.30 TnI RxL+0.00; bias=-5.80 (95% CI from -7.81 to -3.78), Myo Aio!=1.33 Myo RxL+0.42, bias=+53.09 (95% CI from +38.44 to +67.74). CONCLUSIONS: The analytical performance of the Innotrac Aio! analyzer was satisfactory for all three cardiac markers evaluated and, in particular, the TnI method provided sensitive and accurate results. The most important finding in this study is the possibility to perform the tests as either routine or point-of-care analysis, thus overcoming the variability of results obtained employing different methods.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2006

Analytical and clinical evaluation of a new heart-type fatty acid-binding protein automated assay.

BACKGROUND: The accurate and rapid recognition of myocardial injury in patients presenting in the emergency department (ED) with chest pain continues to be a clinical challenge. Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) appears to be one of the best candidates among the new early cardiac markers studied. METHODS: We evaluated the analytical characteristics of a new quantitative and fully automated H-FABP assay (Randox Laboratories Ltd., Crumlin, UK) and compared its clinical performance with respect to the myoglobin (Myo) assay (Dade Behring, Milan, Italy). A precision study was carried out by testing three levels of quality control (QC) material and two in-house pool (P) samples. To test the accuracy of H-FABP determinations in plasma (lithium-heparin) samples, H-FABP concentrations measured in a set of matched sera and plasma samples were compared. A total of 77 non-consecutive patients (51 males and 26 females; 62+/-16 years) who presented to the ED with chest pain suggesting myocardial ischemia were enrolled. The patients were classified into two groups (acute myocardial infarction, n=22; non-acute myocardial infarction, n=55) on the basis of the discharge diagnosis. RESULTS: The between-day imprecision for three levels of control material and serum pool samples was 6.26%-8.04% (range 2.32-44.03 microg/L) and 9.03%-12.63% (range 11.85-65.13 microg/L), respectively. In the serum vs. plasma study, bias was +0.178 (95% CI -0.033 to +0.389). The best cut-off and the associated diagnostic efficacy were 95 microg/L and 89.47% for Myo and 5.09 microg/L and 98.70% for H-FABP, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: H-FABP determination in patients with ischemic symptoms may be a more reliable early indication of cardiac damage than myoglobin.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Cardiac troponin I in asphyxiated neonates.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac troponins T (cTnT) and I (cTnI) are well-established markers in detecting myocardial ischemic damage in adults. Perinatal asphyxia is associated with cardiac dysfunction. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate serum concentrations of cTnI in asphyxiated neonates and to investigate whether cTnI is correlated with the traditional markers of asphyxia. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 13 asphyxiated neonates (umbilical artery pH<7.18 and either a 1-min Apgar score<4 or a 5-min Apgar score<7) and 39 controls. Data on gestation, birth weight, sex, Apgar scores, mode of delivery, umbilical pH, creatinine, serum activity of aspartate and alanine aminotransferase, and QTc interval were investigated. RESULTS: Median (range) cTnI concentrations were significantly higher in asphyxiated neonates with respect to healthy infants: 0.36 microg/l (0.05-11) versus 0.04 microg/l (0.04-0.06); p<0.01. In asphyxiated babies, no statistically significant correlations were found between concentrations of cTnI and the other markers of asphyxia. CONCLUSIONS: In asphyxiated neonates, cTnI concentrations are higher with respect to healthy infants, suggesting the presence of myocardial damage in this group of high-risk patients. cTnI does not correlate with the traditional markers of asphyxia.

Asphyxia Neonatorum↗
PubMed2005

NT-proBNP in the differential diagnosis of acute dyspnea in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to verify the usefulness of NT-proBNP in the differential diagnosis of dyspnea in a population of patients presenting in the ER with breathlessness. DESIGN AND METHODS: In samples from 122 patients presenting in the ER with acute-severe dyspnea and from 25 subjects enrolled as a "comparison group" (NORM), NT-proBNP levels were measured. Patients have been classified on the basis of discharge diagnosis: pulmonary disease (PD, n = 23), pulmonary concomitant to cardiac disease (MIXED, n = 17), pulmonary embolism (EMB, n = 8), cardiac disease (CARD, n = 56), acute myocardial infarction (AMI, n = 11) and other disease (OTHER, n = 7). RESULTS: A significant difference in NT-proBNP values (P <or= 0.05) was found in CARD vs. PD as well as vs. NORM and OTHER groups. 1760 ng/L was the best cut-off value calculated from ROC analysis (AUC +/- SE 0.815 +/- 0.041). Comparing NT-proBNP values and ER diagnosis, a disagreement in 24 patients was observed. Using the discharge diagnosis as the "gold standard," four cases (17%) were found to be FP and 11 cases (46%) were FN according to ER diagnosis, while 2 patients showed false positive and 7 false negative NT-proBNP values. CONCLUSIONS: NT-proBNP measurement represents a useful biochemical tool helping the ER physician in the rapid and reliable recognition of cardiac involvement in patients presenting in the ER with acute-severe dyspnea.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Cord blood cardiac troponin T and troponin I levels in multiple-gestation neonates.

The increased mortality and morbidity rates in multiple-gestation neonates are not completely understood. Troponin measurements have a role in situations where the evaluation of the cardiac damage is difficult, such as in cases of unexplained intrauterine fetal growth restriction or death. These conditions, along with perinatal hypoxic risk and in utero ischemic damage, are frequently found in multiple gestations. In this context, a myocardial damage could be expected more frequently in multiple than in singleton births. We hypothesized that cord blood cardiac troponin T and troponin I, markers of myocardial damage, could be different between singleton and multiple pregnancies and, among twins, between the first- and the second-born twin. Troponins T and I and creatine kinase MB concentrations were not increased in twins at birth and were not different between the first- and the second-born twin. These data suggest that myocardial damage, evaluated by cardiac troponin T, troponin I, and creatine kinase MB measurements, does not seem to be a relevant problem in multiple-gestation neonates.

Birth Order↗