Acute coronary ischemia: troponin I and T

Despite advances in diagnosis and management, ischemic heart disease remain s the leading cause of death in the USA. Serum cardiac enzymes, one of the three fundamental criteria for establishing the diagnosis of myocardial inf arction, are not specific for cardiac muscle and have a narrow time-window. The recent development of monoclonal antibodies to cardiac troponin I and troponin T has resulted in cardiac-specific assays. Several published studi es have documented the utility of troponin proteins in the evaluation of my ocardial necrosis. A brief overview of the characteristics and clinical uti lity of troponin T and I is presented here.