Inflammatory blood test Pentraxin 3 predicts death, new heart attack and stroke after a heart attack

What is it about?

Inflammation is part of the development of heart disease and Pentraxin 3 is a new blood test for measuring this. We have shown that cxcl16 may be better than existing test for predicting badness (death, new heart attack or stroke) after a heart attack.

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is important because it supports that inflammation blood tests may have a place for doctors to assess the risk of badness for patients after a a heart attack. The new blood test seems to be better than the most studied one (C-reactive protein or CRP). This may allow doctors to choose treatment for individual patients and reduce risk of future badness, as well as stop treatment early for those of low risk.