Postoperative cardiovascular event including myocardial infarction or heart failure is a major cause of morbidity after non-cardiac surgery. Preoperative evaluation including estimation of the probability of perioperative cardiac event and application of non-invasive testing or beta-blocker has been developed, but...

The growing role of cardiac markers has been elucidated in patients with acute coronary syndrome, heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. The markers can be cytosolic like heart-type fatty-acid-binding protein (H-FABP) and creatine kinase MB (CKMB), myofibrillary like troponin T (TnT) and cardio-endocrine...

In about 30-40 % of ischemic strokes, even after an extensive clinical investigation, it is not possible to determine any one etiology. It is possible that a fraction of these strokes, named cryptogenic, happen after an episode of paroxystic atrial fibrillation (AF) that was not registered. Strokes due to atrial...

Troponin values above the 99th percentile and increasing/falling values found by serial testing in addition to signs and symptoms of myocardial ischemia means AMI. Low troponin values, near or below the 99th percentile, can be used for prognosis. Highest hazard ratios were found when using the 90th percentile,...

Patients with heart failure (HF) experience significant morbidity and mortality and those admitted for acute decompensated HF are at particularly high risk for adverse events. Hospitalization represents the major component of the high cost associated with the management of patients with HF. Accordingly, early and...

Applications of point-of-care testing (POCT) for diagnostic biomarker measurement in healthcare have increased significantly in recent years in a wide range of clinical scenarios. These include infectious disease, critical care, cardiology and other areas of emergency medicine. Traditionally, routine clinical...