Serum cardiac troponin T in unstable angina pectoris patients.
Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is a regulatory contractile protein not normally found in blood. Its detection in the circulation has been shown to be a sensitive and specific marker for myocardial cell damage. In this study, we used a second-generation enzyme immunoassay for cTnT to determine whether its presence in the serum of patients with unstable angina was a prognostic indicator. Thirty patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and 30 patients with Q-wave acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were screened for serum CK-MB activity and cTnT at 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after the onset of chest pain, All of the mean concentrations of CK-MB activity determined in UAP patients were less than the upper limit of normal (25 U/L). Meanwhile, the mean concentration of cTnT at 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after onset of chest pain were higher than the cutoff values (0.1 microg/L), We found that one third of UAP patients had serum cTnT at the time of admission more than 0.1 microg/L and that these groups of patients were associated with a high risk for cardiac events. Our results suggested that patients with elevated serum cTnT could be considered as high-risk patients for developing myocardial infarction, Patients with normal cTnT levels and a low or intermediate clinical risk could be stabilized and further stratified noninvasively.
Leowattana
W
W
Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Mahanonda
N
N
Bhuripanyo
K
K
Pokum
S
S
Kiartivich
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood; D018570:Risk Assessment; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
D020107:Troponin T