September 7, 2017 — In July, The Heart Institute at Florida Medical Center became the first hospital in the state of Florida to offer the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared high sensitive Elecsys Troponin T Gen 5 blood test (Troponin T Gen 5 or TnT Gen 5) to aid in the diagnosis of heart attacks. The new nine-minute test offers faster answers clinicians can use when diagnosing heart attack.
“This next-generation Troponin T assay from Roche Diagnostics allows clinicians to make better choices when identifying heart attack and thereby enhances our diagnostic abilities for our patients, especially as we use the gender-specific cutoffs,” said Louis Isaacson, DO, director of emergency services at Florida Medical Center. “Using the TnT Gen 5 test, we can rule in or rule out cardiac disease; in particular, acute myocardial infarction.”
Every 43 seconds someone in the United States has a heart attack, or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which occurs when the blood supply to an area of the heart is interrupted. The longer the heart is without proper blood supply, the greater the damage. Troponin, a specific marker of cardiac cell death, is released into the blood stream when cardiac cells are being damaged. By detecting small elevations of troponin, the highly sensitive Troponin T Gen 5 test aids in the diagnosis of a heart attack and can help save lives.
Using the hsTnT (TnT Gen 5) test, in combination with an electrocardiogram (ECG) and clinical signs of inadequate blood supply, allows emergency department physicians to stratify patients according to risk in order to determine the best care plan for individual patients.
“Our goal is to be able to send more patients home for outpatient cardiology follow-up rather than have them deal with an unnecessary hospitalization, said Trey Abshier, CEO of Florida Medical Center. “We want to focus on continuing to set the standard for the diagnosis and treatment of acute cardiac problems in the state in order to better serve the patients who entrust us with their care.”
For more information: www.usdiagnostics.roche.com
October 09, 2019 
