The Usefulness of Heart-type Fatty Acid binding Protein and Ischemia Modified Albumin to Diagnose the Cardiac cause of Arrest and the Difference of the Two Biomarkers between the Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) group and the non-ROSC group

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) and ischemia modified albumin (IMA) to differentiate the causes of cardiac arrest. METHODS: From May 2007 to November 2007, we prospectively studied 27 patients who presented to the emergency department with sudden collapse. The blood samples collected during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min, and the obtained serum was stored at -70degrees C. RESULTS: Cardiac arrest were caused by cardiac disease (N=7, 26%), trauma (N=7, 26%) and other disease (N=13, 48%). The patients with cardiac cause showed significantly increased H-FABP levels compared to the patients with noncardiac causes (39.7+/-19.3 ng/mL vs 24.6+/-16.9 ng/mL, respectively, p=0.048). The cut-off value of H-FABP was 29.05 ng/mL (sensitivity 85%, specificity 75%). The IMA showed no statistical difference between the patients with cardiac causes and those with non-cardiac causes (86.6+/-29.9 U/mL vs 107.4+/-39.4 U/mL, respectively, p=0.219). There were no significant differences of the H-FABP and IMA levels between the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) group and the non-ROSC group, and also between the survival and death groups. A higher H-FABP concentration was correlated with a longer arrest time, and mortality was correlated with a longer CPR time. CONCLUSION: The IMA is not changed according the cause of arrest, but the H-FABP is useful to diagnose the cardiac causes of arrest.

The Usefulness and Difference of Serum Biomarkers BNP, d-dimer, MMP-9, and S100beta for Diagnosing Stroke in Patients with Altered Mental Status

PURPOSE: An altered mental state is a common chief complain at the emergency departments (EDs). But it is difficult to find out the reason for this mental change. Serum biomarkers are an alternative way to diagnose the reason for mental change. We determined the values of four biomarker for diagnosing the mental changes of the patients seen at the ED: BNP, d-dimer, MMP-9 and S100beta. METHODS: From September 2007 to March 2008, we prospectively enrolled 42 adult patients who visited the ED of Hospital because of an altered mental status. We categorized the patient's mental state into 5 steps (alert to coma), and we took samples of blood at the time of visiting the ED. We then measured the 4 serum markers. The clinical records were reviewed to analyze the usefulness of these 4 serum markers. RESULTS: We enrolled 42 patients (24 females and 18 males). Thirty-three people were diagnosed with stroke and 7 people were diagnosed to not have stroke. The measurements of BNP, d-dimer and MMP-9 were on average 136.5+/-231.7 pg/mL, 2052.2+/-2071.8 ng/mL and 294.9+/-311.7 ng/mL, respectively, and S100beta was mostly measured below 100 pg/mL. After statistic analysis, only MMP-9 had diagnostic value for stroke, and BNP & d-dimer had a negative relation to making the diagnosis of stroke. CONCLUSION: MMP-9 is useful for making the different diagnosis of acute stroke in patients with an altered mental status at the ER. There is the probability of metabolic causes for ED patients' depressed mentality when the BNP and ddimer levels are highly elevated, but further study is needed to confirm this.