Interv Akut Kardiol. 2011;10(1):18-22

Troponin in acute myocardial infarction - golden standard or good servant, but bad master ?

Některá úskalí při užívání troponinu pro stanovení diagnózy akutního infarktu myokardu Stanislav Janoušek

Interní kardiologická klinika, FN Brno

Some difficulties in use troponin for determination diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

Determination of cardiac troponins has become the gold standard of diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the last decade.

Despite their high sensitivity it is impossible not to notice their small specificity; they are detected in plasma in a wide range of acute

and chronic diseases, without ischemic necrosis of myocytes. Therefore, finding the real cause of their increase can be a challenging

diagnostic problem in some cases. One big disadvantage is also a relatively long interval after the onset of AMI, where they are not

present in plasma, although the latest highly sensitive methods for their determination represent a significant progress in this regard.

Finding that troponin positivity is an indicator of unfavourable prognosis in many diseases is an undeniable contribution, and its monitoring

helps us stratify patients by risk and manage their treatment.

Keywords: troponin, acute myocardial infarction, sensitivity, specificity, prognosis, risk stratification

Published: March 12, 2011  Show citation