Study: Prevencio blood test accurately predicts the presence of obstructive CAD

Prevencio unveiled promising results from a study investigating its multiprotein blood panel’s ability to predict the presence of obstructive coronary artery disease. The data could lead to better diagnosis of obstructive CAD, thus reducing disease rates and healthcare costs, the company said.

The company teamed up with Massachusetts General Hospital to develop the multiprotein panel. They used the panel, dubbed HART CAD, to evaluate more than 900 patients who had undergone coronary angiography for the presence of at least 70% obstruction in one or more major coronary arteries, Prevencio said in a statement Monday.

The HART CAD score takes into consideration the patient’s sex and history of percutaneous coronary intervention as well as four protein biomarkers in the blood, according to the abstract. The test correctly flagged the presence of “significant coronary obstruction” 90% of the time and also predicted risk of a heart attack, according to the statement.

The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“These are significant results which have the potential to establish a new standard of care and the potential to save millions of lives,” said James Januzzi, M.D., the principal investigator and a cardiologist at MGH, in the statement. “With better diagnostic and predictive methods, we can aim to better diagnose coronary artery disease, initiate therapy and lifestyle change earlier, and possibly prevent complications such as heart attacks, while simultaneously improving a patient’s quality of life.”

Doctors use a range of tests from stress testing and cardiac CT scans to chest X-rays and electrocardiograms, to diagnose coronary artery disease. The researchers specifically compared the HART CAD score to ECG and nuclear stress tests and found it to be “substantially more accurate” in predicting heart disease, according to the statement.

Prevencio pointed out that stress testing and cardiac CT imaging have variable accuracy, as well as limitations in obese and female patients. Nuclear stress tests involve exposing patients to ionizing radiation.