The utility of heart-type free fatty-acid binding-protein (HFABP) levels for differentiating acute ischemic stroke from stroke mimics

This study was a prospective, single-center, observational diagnostic accuracy study with a nested cohort design. The estimated sample size was 126 patients, with a 1:1 case and control ratio. We included all consecutive patients with a lateralizing symptom (motor or sensory) or finding suggesting AIS (139 patients) who presented to ED within 24  h of their symptom onset and collected plasma at admission to the ED. After further evaluations, 111 patients (79.8%) were diagnosed with AIS and 28 with other neurological diseases (stroke-mimics).FindingsIn our study, the median HFABP levels of the cases and controls were 2.6  μg/ml and 2.2 μg/ml, respectively, without any statistically significant difference (p = 0.120). The diagnostic accuracy of HFABP for AIS was also insignificant at 0.60 (95% CI 0.51–0.68;p = 0.119).DiscussionPlasma HFABP level is not a marker that can differentiate AIS from other neurological pathologies in patients presenting to the ED, with findings suggesting AIS.
Source: Acta Neurologica Belgica - Category: Neurology Source Type: research