Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Biomarkers

Pros and cons of high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin

A 3-h algorithm using high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin to rule out myocardial infarction (MI) is recommended in current ESC guidelines. Whether faster rule-out algorithms can discriminate between MI and other conditions that elevate the troponin level, or be safely implemented across the whole spectrum of patient risk, is unclear.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Effects of high-sensitivity assays for cardiac muscle troponin (cTn) on clinical sensitivity and specificity.

References

  1. Keller, T. et al. Sensitive troponin I assay in early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. N. Engl. J. Med. 361, 868–877 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hamm, C. W. et al. ESC guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes in patients presenting without persistent ST-segment elevation: the Task Force for the management of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in patients presenting without persistent ST-segment elevation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Eur. Heart J. 32, 2999–3054 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Reichlin, T. et al. One-hour rule-out and rule-in of acute myocardial infarction using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T. Arch. Intern. Med. 13, 1–8 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Than, M. et al. 2-hour accelerated diagnostic protocol to assess patients with chest pain symptoms using contemporary troponins as the only biomarker: the ADAPT trial. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 59, 2091–2098 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hammarsten, O. et al. Troponin T percentiles from a random population sample, emergency room patients and patients with myocardial infarction. Clin. Chem. 58, 628–637 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mueller, M. et al. Absolute and relative kinetic changes of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in acute coronary syndrome and in patients with increased troponin in the absence of acute coronary syndrome. Clin. Chem. 58, 209–218 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Agewall, S., Giannitsis, E., Jernberg, T. & Katus, H. Troponin elevation in coronary vs. non-coronary disease. Eur. Heart J. 32, 404–411 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Thygesen, K. et al. Third universal definition of myocardial infarction. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2012.122.

  9. Thygesen, K. et al. How to use high-sensitivity cardiac troponins in acute cardiac care. Eur. Heart J. 33, 2252–2257 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Keller, T. et al. Serial changes in highly sensitive troponin I assay and early diagnosis of myocardial infarction. JAMA 306, 2684–2693 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evangelos Giannitsis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

E. Giannitsis is or has been a member of the speakers' bureau of BRAHMS Thermo Fisher. Additionally, he is or has been a consultant for, a member of the speakers' bureau of, and received grant or research support from, Roche Diagnostics. H. A. Katus is or has been a consultant for, a member of the speakers' bureau of, and a patent holder or applicant with, Roche Diagnostics.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Giannitsis, E., Katus, H. Pros and cons of high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin. Nat Rev Cardiol 9, 616–618 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2012.142

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2012.142

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing