Advanced cardiovascular
High-sensitivity cardiac troponinhs-cTn
Myocyte-specific contractile protein; defines myocardial injury at the 99th percentile.
Sample
Serum or plasma
Clinical reference range
— to 14 ng/L
99th percentile (assay-specific)
Conv: —–14 ng/L
Biology
What it measures
TnI and TnT are highly cardiac-specific. Released within 1–3 h of injury, peaks 24–48 h.
Clinical use
Why we order it
Acute MI rule-in/rule-out using 0/1 h or 0/3 h algorithms.
Differential
Causes of abnormal values
Causes of HIGH
- ↑MI (rising/falling pattern with ischemic context)
- ↑Myocarditis
- ↑PE
- ↑Sepsis
- ↑CKD (chronic stable elevation)
- ↑Heart failure
Pitfalls
Pre-analytic & interpretation traps
- !A single elevated troponin is not MI — diagnosis requires rise/fall plus clinical context (4th UDMI).
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