RAPID TROPONIN-T MEASUREMENT IN WHOLE-BLOOD FOR DETECTION OF MYOCARDIAL DAMAGE

A dry chemistry system for rapid qualitative measurement of cardiac tr oponin T in whole blood, serum, EDTA and lithium heparin plasma was st udied in 197 admissions to the coronary care unit and general wards of a typical district general hospital for whom troponin T was requested . This included patients with unexplained collapse, acute dysrythmia o r elevated creatine kinase of unknown origin. EDTA whole blood and pla sma proved the most satisfactory sample matrices. Lithium heparin whol e blood was equally appropriate but lithium heparin plasma gave a fals e negative result. Serum was an unsatisfactory sample material. Compar ison with the conventional wet chemistry quantitative enzyme-linked im munosorbent assay showed a positive bias for EDTA plasma, particularly in the range 0-1 mu g/L and a significant negative bias for lithium h eparin plasma. There was no difference between serum from plain or gel separator tubes. The whole blood method allows troponin T measurement to be performed rapidly and simply in the laboratory, either as an em ergency test to alter patient management, or for those laboratories th at wish to offer troponin T for selected cases but do not have the abi lity to measure troponin T quantitatively.