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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...

The management at the emergency department of patients presenting with symptoms of chest pain and/or acute dyspnea accounts for a substantial proportion of emergency care resources. In the work-up of these patients the blood measurements of cardiac troponins and brain natriuretic peptides are recommended by current...

Diagnosis of myocardial infarction in the absence of characteristic electrocardiographic (ECG) changes depends on measurement of circulating cardiac troponin (cTn); either cardiac troponin I (cTnI) or cardiac troponin T (cTnT).  By definition myocardial infarction is associated with increased serum cTnI and cTnT;...

Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is becoming an increasingly international issue.  Although the problem is not only resolved by ED change management (but rather requires a system-wide solution recognizing the complex interdependencies of consumer expectations, human resources, information systems immaturity and...

Despite the pervasive measurement of cardiac troponin (cTn) for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS), the continuous evolution of assays and guidelines for their application has created uncertainty among laboratorians and clinicians: criteria for the choice of assay and...