title: Highly Sensitive Troponin and Critical Illness Insurance: Have the Goalposts Moved Again?
abstract: An elevated cardiac troponin is a sine qua non for the clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The sensitivity of troponin assays has improved repeatedly since troponin entered clinical use in the late 1990s. Its most recent iteration, "highly sensitive" troponin will shortly enter clinical use in North America. It is able to detect amounts of troponin 10 times smaller than the current assay. As a result, more myocardial infarctions will be diagnosed. This may have an impact on the number of critical illness claims for heart attack.
authors: Author Affiliations: Senn - Medical Officer, Munich Re, Munich, Germany; Meagher - Vice-President and Medical Director, Munich Re, Montreal; Associate Professor of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec.
authors: Alban
authors: A
authors: Senn
authors: Timothy
authors: T
authors: Meagher
keywords: Highly sensitive troponin; critical illness claims; critical illness insurance; laboratory tests; myocardial infarction