Use of ischemia-modified albumin in diagnosis of coronary artery disease.
OBJECTIVE
The diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) is an important clinical problem. Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) has been demonstrated to be a helpful marker in detecting myocardial ischemia. In this study, we have investigated the diagnostic importance of IMA in CAD.


RESULTS
Fifty patients with chest pain were enrolled in the study. IMA levels were measured on admission and within 30-60 min after exercise by albumin cobalt-binding test. Coronary angiography was performed in all patients after the exercise test. The mean preexercise IMA level was 83+/-27 U/ml in the patient group. IMA levels before the exercise test were similar in both patient and control groups (P>0.05). The mean IMA level in the patient group was, however, higher than in the control group after the exercise test (P=0.001). The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of the postexercise IMA levels >85 in diagnosis of CAD were 78, 73, 0.81 and 0.73%; respectively. Postexercise IMA levels were higher in patients with chest pain, ST depression and downsloping and horizontal ST depression of 2 mm or more.


CONCLUSIONS
IMA levels after the exercise test increased in patients with CAD. Our study results indicate that postexercise IMA levels can be helpful markers in the diagnosis of stable CAD in clinical practice.
Kalay
Nihat
N
Department of Cardiology, Sorgun State Hospital, Yozgat, Turkey. nihatkalay@hotmail.com
Cetinkaya
Yakup
Y
Basar
Emrullah
E
Muhtaroglu
Sebahattin
S
Ozdogru
Ibrahim
I
Gul
Ali
A
Eryol
Namik Kemal
NK
Oguzhan
Abdurrahman
A
Abaci
Adnan
A
D000368:Aged; D000418:Albumins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000418:Albumins