Abstract

Acute coronary syndrome is a set of clinical manifestations resulting from the blockage of a coronary artery and comprises three disease processes. Acute myocardial infarction is a main cause of disability and mortality around the globe. Therefore, the rapid diagnosis is essential for early treatment. The progression in technology has led to the advancement of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) assay, which has enabled the rapid estimation of very low troponin concentrations with high precision. However, the requirement to interpret very low levels and minute alterations in troponin levels might confuse some professionals unfamiliar with this test. Hence, this study aimed to identify the diagnosis of miocardial infarction (MI) using hs-cTn, and whether using this biomarker could result in overdiagnosis of MI. A searching process for related articles was implemented through online databases, using various relevant terms. The eligible articles were those concerned with the current subject and written in the English language. There were two major titles under which the subject was discussed; the first one involved discussing the current new assay, whereas the second title discussed the diagnosis of MI using this novel assay. Hs-cTn assays have led to improvement in the diagnosis of MI by the ability to detect low concentrations of troponin compared to the classical assays. This, in turn, led to the identification of subjects at very low risk of MI. However, some cases might require further repeated troponin investigations and adoption of other algorithms and rules.

Key words: hs-cTn, assay, acute coronary syndrome, acute myocardial infarction, over diagnosis