Last month, TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center announced the hospital has become the first in the state to utilize an innovative new approach that can help detect a heart attack earlier and more precisely than traditional tests.

Using high-sensitivity blood test allows providers to measure the presence of a heart-specific protein called troponins more quickly and assess heart attacks earlier when treatment options are more favorable. Troponins are proteins that help muscles contract and are released into the blood when cardiac cells die. A high-sensitivity cardiac troponin test expedites the evaluation of patients who may be experiencing an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), or a heart attack.

"Increasing the sensitivity of our test allows us to make an earlier and a more precise detection of smaller heart attacks," said Fathi Ali, MD, interventional cardiologist with Centennial Heart at TriStar Southern Hills. "Most patients who have had a heart attack have increased troponin levels within three hours. The new troponin test is much more sensitive and more precise than conventional troponin assays. This allows us to develop a plan of care for patients much faster."