title: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays and unstable angina.
abstract: The term unstable angina has been conventionally applied to patients with myocardial ischemia without myocardial necrosis. However, while the clinical context has remained constant over time, the biomarkers of myocardial injury and acute myocardial infarction have evolved. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays have several key analytical differences from prior cardiac troponin assay generations, which may alter the diagnosis and frequency of unstable angina, as well as affect our understanding of previously developed risk stratification strategies. This document reviews the current challenges in regards to unstable angina when using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I and T assays.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA.|2 Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Yader
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sandoval
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Hennepin County Medical Center and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Fred S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Apple
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Emergency Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019210:Troponin I / Q000097:blood*; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019210:Troponin I; D020107:Troponin T
keywords: Unstable angina; acute coronary syndrome; cardiac troponin; high-sensitivity cardiac troponin; myocardial infarction