Extract

Monitoring cardiac troponin I (cTnI) or T (cTnT) for the detection of myocardial injury in acute coronary syndromes has been endorsed by the laboratory medicine community (IFCC, AACC, National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry) (1)(2) and the cardiology community (European Society of Cardiology and American College of Cardiology) (3)(4)(5). However, little to no information is available regarding the use of troponins or changing trends from traditional enzymatic markers to the use of protein markers, such as cardiac troponins, in clinical and laboratory practice. The primary objective of this study was to survey hospital laboratories for use of cardiac troponin testing as of January 1, 1995 and January 1, 1999. More than 3000 surveys were distributed internationally at the 1999 IFCC meeting in Florence, Italy, by mail in the US to 274 randomly selected hospitals from the AACC directory, and by telephone survey to 17 hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN metropolitan area. The survey primarily addressed the instrumentation and assays used to measure cardiac markers as of January 1, 1995 and January 1, 1999. Results are presented as trends and descriptive findings, and no statistical analyses were performed.

You do not currently have access to this article.