CardioExchange Archive

March 30th, 2014

High-Sensitivity Troponin Test Could Identify Low-Risk Chest Pain Patients in the ED

Larry Husten, PHD

Approximately 15-20 million people in Europe and the United States go to the emergency department every year with chest pain. Many can be discharged early if they are not having an acute coronary syndrome. A large, new, single-center observational study, presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington, DC and published simultaneously in the Journal […]

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September 4th, 2013

New Dual Biomarker Test Could Speed Rule-Out of MI in the ED

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study suggests that patients with suspected ACS and negative troponin and copeptin results at admission can safely be discharged if the clinical assessment is consistent with that decision.

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November 13th, 2012

Expert Consensus Document Offers Advice on Troponin Tests

Larry Husten, PHD

A newly published document provides practical advice on the use of the popular and potent troponin tests. The Expert Consensus Document on Practical Clinical Considerations in the Interpretation of Troponin Elevations was developed by the American College of Cardiology Foundation in collaboration with several other societies to help address the many complex issues raised by the introduction […]

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August 13th, 2012

Troponin Test May Allow Rapid MI Rule-Out in the Emergency Department

Larry Husten, PHD

More than three-quarters of people with chest pain can be triaged within an hour of arrival at the emergency department with a novel strategy utilizing high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnT), according to a study from Switzerland published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The strategy is promising, according to an accompanying editorial, but much work remains before […]

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June 5th, 2012

Troponin T Test Helps Assess Mortality Risk Following Noncardiac Surgery

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study in JAMA finds that postoperative troponin T (TnT) tests can independently improve 30-day-mortality risk assessment among patients who have undergone noncardiac surgery. The VISION (Vascular Events in Noncardiac Surgery Patients Cohort Evaluation) study investigators evaluated the prognostic power of postoperative fourth-generation TnT testing in 15,133 patients. Overall mortality at 30 days was 1.9%. Some 11.6% of patients […]

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December 27th, 2011

Possible Role for New Troponin Test to Diagnose MI

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study from Germany provides evidence that a new high-sensitive troponin I (hsTnI) assay may improve and speed the early diagnosis of acute MI. In an article published in JAMA, Till Keller and colleagues report on 1818 patients with acute chest pain in whom numerous biomarker tests were conducted at admission and at 3 and […]

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September 28th, 2011

Study Finds Noncardiac Sources of Positive Troponin T Tests

Larry Husten, PHD

Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is not always cardiac specific and in some cases may lead to a false-positive diagnosis of cardiac injury, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study was prompted by a case seen by a senior clinician at the Mayo Clinic in which a patient, who was […]

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March 22nd, 2011

Study Explores Lowering the Troponin Diagnostic Threshold

Larry Husten, PHD

Lowering the troponin diagnostic threshold can significantly improve outcomes after MI, claim Scottish investigators in a report published in JAMA. More than 2,000 patients with suspected ACS were studied. Sixty-four percent of patients had troponin concentrations below 0.05 ng/mL, 8% had concentrations from 0.05 to 0.19 ng/mL, and 28% had concentrations 0.20 ng/mL or higher. […]

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February 8th, 2011

Biomarker Levels Post-CABG Strongly Linked to Mortality

Larry Husten, PHD

Creatine kinase (CK-MB) and troponin levels obtained in the first day after CABG are a strong predictor of long-term mortality, according to a new report appearing in JAMA. Michael Domanski and colleagues analyzed data from 7 studies that included 18,908 patients who underwent CABG and for whom data on biomarkers and mortality were available. Mortality was […]

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