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High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin for the Diagnosis of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes

  • Management of Acute Coronary Syndromes (AS Jaffe, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hscTn) assays are replacing the older-generation assays used to detect myocardial injury because they have improved analytical sensitivity and lead to a more rapid diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and enhanced risk stratification in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS). This review focuses on advantages and difficulties of using hscTn as diagnostic and prognostic tools in acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

Recent Findings

The newer assays have a lower specificity for AMI as compared to conventional assays, potentially leading to an increased number of unwarranted hospitalizations and amplified cost unless how to use these assays appropriately is appreciated. Several approaches can increase the specificity of the high sensitivity assays.

Summary

This review will present the current literature data regarding the use of hscTn assays and will focus on modalities used to increase the specificity, as well as the advantages and pitfalls of using the high sensitivity approach in clinical practice.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Gonda 5, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Vlad C. Vasile & Allan S. Jaffe

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2R3, Canada

    Allan S. Jaffe

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  1. Vlad C. Vasile
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  2. Allan S. Jaffe
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Correspondence to Allan S. Jaffe.

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Vlad C. Vasile declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Allan S. Jaffe reports personal fees from Abbott, Alere, Beckman-Coulter, ET Healthcare, NeurogenomeX, Novartis, Roche, Siemens, Sphingotec, and theheart.org

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Management of Acute Coronary Syndromes

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Vasile, V.C., Jaffe, A.S. High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin for the Diagnosis of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes. Curr Cardiol Rep 19, 92 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-017-0904-4

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