Clinical insights on the use of highly sensitive cardiac troponin assays

This review describes the pathophysiological and histopathological rational e for using the cardiac isoforms of troponin T and troponin I in congestive heart failure (CHF). It also focuses on the potential clinical usefulness of new generation highly sensitive and specific cardiac troponin assays wit h respect to histological monitoring, risk stratification and therapeutic f ollow-up of patients with CHF. The availability of more powerful analytical tools for these highly specific markers of myocardial injury offers a uniq ue opportunity to expand the field of their application and to explore new disease processes. Because cardiac troponin T and cardiac troponin I provid e useful clinical information unavailable through other diagnostic techniqu es, they appear as promising biochemical markers in patients with CHF. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.