A single blood test to rule out myocardial infarction? High sensitivity troponin assays could get us there, if combined with clinical judgment

摘要

The release into the circulation of troponin I and T signals irreversible injury to cardiac myocytes and is central to the diagnosis of myocardial infarction.1 Conventional (non-high sensitivity) troponin assays are optimally sensitive 10-12 hours after the onset of symptoms, and in patients presenting with cardiac chest pain a rise or fall in troponin levels during this period—with at least one value exceeding the upper reference limit—is diagnostic of myocardial infarction.