An article co-authored by Christopher Solaro, MD, PhD, CPE, Chief of Medicine, Blessing Health System, and his father, R. John Solaro, PhD, has been published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, the flagship journal of the International Society of Heart Research.
The paper summarizes Blessing Hospital’s experience with use of a blood test called High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T, to more quickly and reliably determine if a patient with chest discomfort is having a heart attack. Blessing Hospital was among the first 30 hospitals in the nation to adopt use of the blood test. Cardiac troponins are proteins released into the blood stream during a heart attack or other illnesses which cause injury to heart muscle. Use of the test reduced patient hospitalizations for chest discomfort at Blessing Hospital by 12 percent.
The article also reviews the complex biology of troponin release from the cardiac muscle cell, and how high sensitivity troponin testing can be useful in evaluating other important diseases.
Dr. R. John Solaro is Distinguished Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and member of the Board of Directors Center for Cardiovascular Research, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, and has studied cardiac troponins for his entire career.