MUSC News

When someone arrives in the Emergency Department (ED) with signs of a heart attack, every second matters. Yet confirming whether a heart attack is actually occurring can take precious time. That’s why MUSC Health Florence Medical Center has become the first hospital in South Carolina to use a new test that helps doctors to detect heart attacks faster and more accurately.

“When I came to the emergency room, I was thinking that whatever test was going to be given, it was going to be something very difficult. I thought it was going to be something that was going to hurt. But once it was quickly performed, it was very simple and easy,” said MUSC Health Florence Medical Center patient Deshantell Canteen.

This new test, the Abbott i-STAT High-sensitivity Troponin I Cartridge (hs-TnI), measures very small amounts of cardiac troponin I in the blood. Cardiac troponin is a protein found only in the heart, and elevated levels can signal damage to heart muscle.