Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world, accounting for around a third of all deaths. It remains a tremendous medical and cost burden on society. The identification and application of novel cardio biomarkers has helped cardiologists to stratify high risk patients whilst the advances in diagnostic imaging has lead to improvements in the speed and resolution of images, increasing its clinical utility in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of CVD whilst minimizing the need for invasive procedures. In addition, diagnostic imaging provides cardiologists with detailed anatomical (CT, MRI, US), metabolic and functional (nuclear imaging, fMRI) information upon which an accurate diagnosis an be made. Currently no single imaging test is superior to all the others and a variety of imaging modalities may be used to diagnose CVD. A variety of cardiac biomarkers are now available including those to determine cholesterol & lipoproteins levels, cardiac necrosis, thrombosis, inflammation and genetic variants - to aid in patient risk stratification and the diagnosis of a range of cardiovascular conditions – acute coronary syndrome (ACS), coronary artery disease (CAD), heart failure (HF), stroke and pulmonary embolism (PE). A raft of possible and probable cardiac biomarkers are currently under evaluation that if successful, may provide cardiologist with a more comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular risk and prognosis. Meanwhile in vitro diagnostic (IVD) companies have launched a range of assay platforms including laboratory bases ultra high through systems to point of care (PoC) bench top and hand held devices. Enabling rapid and cost-effective testing and migrating CV testing from the hospital to the clinic and bedside. Meanwhile tremendous advances have been made in all imaging modalities leading to an increase in the speed and resolution of cardiovascular imaging procedures whilst reducing the use of ionizing radiation and contrast agents. This in turn has enabled cardiologist to switch away from invasive procedures towards non-invasive procedures reducing the time of hospitalization, improving clinical outcome and reducing healthcare costs. Despite the success of both IVD and diagnostic imaging technologies these products and services continue to come under scrutiny from healthcare providers and the need to demonstrate comparative effectiveness and clinical outcome is critical if the medical community is to continue to have access to the appropriate diagnostic tools to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of the worlds biggest killers heart disease and stroke.
Published: March 2010 - Global. |
