Cardiac troponins1

Received 22 May 2001; received in revised form 28 November 2001; accepted 3 January 2002.

Abstract

Cardiac troponins I and T are proteins integral to the function of cardiac muscle. They are very sensitive markers for the detection of myocardial damage, and the ability to assay their serum levels accurately and quickly have revolutionized the concepts of minor myocardial injury and infarction. They are also powerful prognostic indicators of future adverse cardiac events. Limitations, more of troponin T than I, include decreased specificity in renal failure and skeletal muscle disease. Rapid, whole blood assays are now available that can be done at the patient’s bedside. This review discusses the cardiac troponins, their biochemistry, the assays for them currently available, and their roles in the evaluation of cardiac disease in the Emergency Department (ED).

Keywords: troponin, cardiology, chest pain risk stratification, acute coronary syndrome, assay

∗ Department of Emergency Medicine, Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

† Department of Emergency Medicine, Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Reprint Address: John Sarko, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Maricopa Medical Center, 2601 E. Roosevelt, Phoenix, AZ 85008, USA

1 Clinical Laboratory in Emergency Medicine is coordinated by Jonathan Olshaker, MD, of the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland

PII: S0736-4679(02)00463-8

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