The small amount of free fatty acids in serum is not bound to albumin,which is frequently referred to as "the unbound free fatty acids".Unbound free fatty acids and their intracellular binding protein,heart-type fatty acid-binding protein,have been suggested to have clinical utility as indicators of cardiac ischemia and necrosis,respectively.They may have a potential role in identifying patients with cardiac ischemia,predicting recurrent cardiac events in acute coronary syndromes and in congestive heart failure patients.