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Genomic blood test identifies patients at high risk for obstructive CAD
Test uses gene expression levels to help identify patients at risk for obstructive CAD.
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Researchers have completed an observational validation study of a new genomic test for obstructive coronary artery disease for patients presenting with stable chest pain, but will release results later this year.
Researchers for the PREDICT study evaluated the noninvasive Corus CAD (CardioDx) test. Corus CAD is performed by having the physician draw a blood sample from the patient. The sample is sent overnight to a certified lab, where the scientists employ a quantitative, real-time polymerase chain reaction to determine the expression levels of 23 different genes. The information is then integrated with individual patient characteristics, and the results of the analysis are sent back to the physician with a numeric score indicative of the patient’s likelihood of having obstructive CAD.
Since 2007, researchers collected more than 2,800 samples from 1,795 patients without diabetes and with chest pain and at risk for CAD, who were undergoing invasive coronary angiography. The samples were collected from more than 40 centers in the United States. The researchers aimed to identify genetic and biological markers that distinguished patients with an increased risk for obstructive CAD. The results of the study, according to a press release, are scheduled to be presented in late 2009.
“This is an important step in improving our ability to appropriately diagnose patients with obstructive CAD in the office,” John McPherson, MD, a researcher for the PREDICT study and director of the coronary care unit at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., told Cardiology Today. “It will play a key role in the future in supplementing our clinical assessment of patients and in determining who has symptoms from obstructive CAD.”
The test is currently available in the United States only. – by Eric Raible