Campbell, Ca., February 18, 2008 - New Test Available to Identify Those at Risk for Heart Attack and Stroke
The PLAC® Test is the only FDA approved blood test that aids in uncovering hidden heart attack and stroke risk.
CVD kills more people in the U.S. than do all cancers combined. Stroke alone is twice the killer of American women than is breast cancer.
Early detection and aggressive treatment can reduce cardiovascular events. Still, 50% of cardiovascular events strike in patients with normal lipid levels. The traditional lipid panel identifies at best 50% of those at risk.
Recent studies show the LDL to be an unreliable predictor of stroke. Similar studies report the PLAC Test uses a cardiovascular risk marker that provides new information, over and above traditional risk factors.
The majority of cardiac events are caused by plaque rupture and subsequent thrombosis, not stenosis. The PLAC Test provides physicians with new information that dramatically improves their ability to identify patients at risk.
The PLAC Test measures Lp-PLAC2 (lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2), a vascular-specific inflammatory enzyme implicated in the formation of rupture-prone plaque.
The PLAC Test may be ordered separately or with a new Cardiac Risk Panel that adds the PLAC Test to the standard lipid panel.
