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Introduction This article features a general background of the analytical characteristics associated with cardiac troponin testing. It addresses the following areas: Introduction to troponin What is the 99^th percentile upper reference limit (URL) and why do we use it? Determination of the 99^th percentile...

Introduction Since the first publications on cardiac troponin (cTn) in the 1970s, around 20.000 scientific reports on this powerful biomarker of myocardial injury have been published. Over time, cTn assays improved their analytical performance and became the designated biomarker for ruling out or ruling in acute...

Dyspnea (alternative names: breathlessness and shortness of breath) is a common reason for individuals to seek medical help either in primary care or the hospital emergency room. The possible causes are legion, so that assessment of the patient complaining of breathlessness is a common and often difficult diagnostic...

Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is the biomarker of choice for diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes (myocardial infarction (MI) and unstable angina). The cardiac muscle cell (myocyte) necrosis, consequent on ischemia that characterises MI, results in release of troponins from necrosed cardiac myocytes to blood and rising...

Blood gas analyzers often have an incorporated CO-oximeter that allows accurate determination of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) and methemoglobin (MetHb) from the arterial blood sample submitted for routine blood gas analysis. For patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE), arterial blood gas analysis is often...

This article first appeared in Pathology in Practice (Hobba H, Silver L. Evolution of POC testing. Pathology in Practice 2013; 14 [2]: 63) and is reproduced here by kind permission (www.pathologyinpractice.com). © 2013 kdm communications limited Point-of-care (POC) testing has allowed the pathology department in...

Barnsley Emergency Department (ED), which recruited patients into the RATPAC trial, initiated a point-of-care (POC) pathway for low-risk chest pain patients from December 2011. All patients who underwent POC testing for chest pain between December 2011 and July 2012 were identified. Patient notes were then examined...

In the past years, emergency rooms (ER) all over Germany, especially those of maximum-care hospitals, have been faced with an increasing number of patients. This is caused by a variety of factors, including demographic changes, inflexible ambulant services and an overreaching demand for healthcare services. ER...

Point-of-care testing (POCT) for key laboratory variables may help clinicians assess the level of acuteness and the level of care necessary in the management of deteriorating ward patients. We used a multibiomarker POCT panel including B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), D-dimer, myoglobin (Myo), creatine kinase MB...