34 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • MARCH 7, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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New blood test for heart attacks helps to shorten ER wait times
Waiting in an emergency room frustrates
patients across the country.
Billboards are even popping up on local
highways advertising the wait time and a
promise for faster care. Chest pain is estimated
to cause more than eight million
visits annually to overcrowded emergency
departments, but a small fraction of
patients actually are experiencing heart
attacks.
Th is presents a challenge for physicians
who need to determine the next steps for
a patient’s care quickly. Th ey don’t want
to keep a patient waiting unnecessarily,
as it limits the resources available to treat
other waiting patients. And they don’t
want to risk overlooking a critical diagnosis
by discharging a patient too soon.
A new blood test is helping physicians
address this issue and diagnose patients
suff ering from heart attacks as quickly
as possible.
When a patient experiencing chest
pain enters the ER, a physician typically
orders a blood test to determine whether
the biomarker protein troponin is present.
As blood fl ow to the heart is blocked,
the heart muscle begins to die in as few
as 30 to 60 minutes and releases this troponin
into the bloodstream. Th e earlier
troponin elevations are confi rmed, the
earlier a physician can initiate care for a
patient, potentially minimizing damage
to a patient’s heart.
If troponin is not elevated in the fi rst
blood draw, sequential blood draws are
typically taken to measure troponin levels
over the course of a few hours to see if
there is an increase. It is during this monitoring
period that ERs can become fi lled
with patients. Th e Siemens Healthineers
High-Sensitivity Troponin I test detects
smaller changes in a patient’s troponin
level as repeat testing occurs, off ering
physicians greater confi dence in the
results to enable them to triage patients
more quickly.
Confi dence in a patient’s test result
can determine what steps come next for
the patient, steps that could be invasive
and costly, explained Jim Freeman of
Siemens Healthineers. Physicians need
to be able to trust the results before leading
a patient down an intensive care
pathway, but it’s increasingly challenging
with lifestyle and dietary factors that
can aff ect test results if not disclosed by
the patient.
“A vitamin supplement that is rising
in popularity, called biotin, is known to
interfere with some testing biomarkers
such as troponin,” Freeman said. “In an
emergency situation a patient may not
be able to share that they’ve been taking
a supplement, so when developing
the High Sensitivity Troponin I assay, we
took this into account and eliminated the
impact of biotin as high as 3500 ng/mL
on test results.”
Th e benefi ts of the test for hospitals and
their patients are signifi cant, Freeman
said. “First, the ability to diagnose heart
attacks earlier can help to reduce heart
death to improve patient outcomes.
Second, the ability to exclude heart
attacks earlier in a crowded ER can allow
for faster care for patients with other
emergencies. Th ird, the increased precision
of the Siemens Healthineers High-
Sensitivity Troponin I assay enables providers
to make more confi dent decisions,
whether admitting the patient or sending
the patient home with an antacid.”
Th e cost of unnecessary admissions
Cecilie_Arcurs/Getty Images
and misdiagnosis of heart attacks reaches
billions of dollars each year, presenting
an opportunity for healthcare providers
to improve medical care related to heart
attack admissions.
“Our emergency department is overcrowded
with patients. If we can do a
more effi cient job at triaging patients to
receive the proper level of care and to discharge
the patients who do not need to
stay in the emergency department, this
will have a tremendous economic advantage
for our healthcare system,” said Dr.
Alan Wu of Zuckerberg San Francisco
General Hospital and Trauma Center.
Courtesy BPT
Parker Jewish appoints Seth to promote Indian Cultural Unit
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care
& Rehabilitation in New Hyde Park
announced that Sujata Seth has joined the
Institute’s Public Aff airs Offi ce, reporting
to Lina Scacco, Assistant Vice President,
Corporate Outreach and Development.
As the new Marketing Associate for
Parker’s newly expanded Indian Cultural
Unit, she will conduct special outreach
programs to educate the area’s Indian
population about Parker’s dedicated services
for older adults.
Her responsibilities will include making
special presentations at Senior
Centers, at Hindu Temples and businesses,
Physicians’ offi ces and other health-related
facilities. Fluent in English, Hindi
and Punjabi, she’s excited about joining
Parker’s team.
“My goal is to promote awareness of
the Parker brand, especially about the
fourth fl oor Indian Cultural Unit,” Seth
said. She will also make special eff orts
to reach those residing in the neighborhoods,
who may not know of Parker’s
unique and dedicated program for the
Indian community.
Seth brings many years of professional
marketing expertise to her new
position at Parker. She has since 2014
till the present been actively involved
with the India Association of Long
Island (IALI) in Hicksville. As an
Executive Member, she has assisted
the Association President closely
with Fundraising events, Food Drives
(in collaboration with Th e Interfaith
Nutrition Network), India Fest (showcase
of the Indian heritage and culture
annual event) and various other events.
In addition, since 2015 she has
co-chaired a monthly Forum where
Meditation mantras are chanted and
a discourse on Th e Bhagwad Gita (the
Hindu holy book) is given. Her love
for singing has kept her involved in
monthly music groups within the community
as well.
A long-time resident of Forest Hills,
Seth’s husband is retired and owned a
successful import/wholesale business
in the garment industry. Th e Seths
have two sons, one is a Marketing consultant
for ICUC – Dentsu Aegis, the
other a doctor following residency in
anesthesiology at Mt. Sinai Hospital,
Manhattan.
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