Washington, D.C., August 16, 2007 — On Thursday, October 4, 2007, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry presents an audioconference on Combining Cardiac Markers and Imaging to improve Patient Outcomes. The audioconference starts at 2:00 pm (Eastern) and will last 90 minutes.
Non-invasive is the key word today in evaluating patients with suspected or confirmed acute coronary syndromes and other heart-related issued. Imaging technologies allow clinicians to measure cardiac function in ways that could not have been imagined 10 years ago and with minimal risk of harm to the patient. Even with the advances in imaging, however, the technology has its limitations and clinicians also rely on information provided by In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) testing using cardiac biomarkers such as Cardiac Troponin I and Cardiac Troponin T. During the audioconference, the expert speakers will provide:
- An update on what’s new in cardiac testing
- Strategies that clinicians can use to define reference values used for clinical decision limits that reduce false-positives when using high-sensitivity troponin assays
- An overview of the latest imaging techniques being used to evaluate cardiac patients
- A clinician’s perspective on how imaging and cardiac markers can be used together to improve patient outcomes
The speakers are:
Fred Apple, PhD, Professor of Laboratory Medicine, the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Medical Director of Clinical Laboratories and the Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratories at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN;
Gilbert Raff, MD, Director of Cardiac MRI/CT Research at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI; and
Allan Jaffe, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
AACC invites members of the press to attend the audioconference at no charge. Contact Peter Patterson at 800-892-1400 ext. 718 or for more information.