Despite significant advances in heart attack prevention over the past 40 years, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death for Americans! Unfortunately, for many people, the first sign of disease is a heart attack or stroke since they are mainly caused by plaque rupture,^1-3 not narrowing of the arteries. In fact, 50% of all heart attacks occur in individuals with normal cholesterol levels.

The PLAC® Test for Lp-PLA2 Activity measures the function of Lp-PLA2 in the artery wall— a vascular-specific inflammatory marker critical in the formation of rupture-prone plaque.⁴ Lp- PLA2 activity is a novel risk predictor in people with no prior history of cardiovascular events with a prognostic value independent of standard lipid profile testing.

The greater the Lp-PLA2 Activity, the greater the risk of fatal and non-fatal CHD events.⁵ PLAC Activity above 225 nmol/min/mL identifies people at increased risk of CHD events.⁶ An absolute risk of CHD events is 2.1 times greater with a PLAC test result over 225 and is associated with high risk for a first time myocardial infarction, cardiac revascularization and cardiac death!^6,7

Instructions

Fasting is not required. Take all medications as prescribed.

1. Myerburg RJ, Junttila MJ. Sudden cardiac death caused by coronary heart disease. Circulation. 2012;125:1043-1052.
2. Falk E, Shah PK, Fuster V. Coronary plaque disruption. Circulation. 1995;92:657-671.
3. Golledge J, Greenhalgh RM, Davies AH. The symptomatic carotid plaque. Stroke. 2000;31:774-781.
4. Kolodgie FD, Burke AP, Skorija KS, et al. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 protein expression in the natural progression of human coronary atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2006;26(11):2523-2529. 
5. Thompson, A. et al. Lancet 2010; 375:1536–44.
6. Adapted from the PLAC Test for Lp-PLA2 Activity Package Insert.
7. PLAC Test for Lp-PLA2 Activity Package Insert.