The role of troponins in acute coronary syndromes

Abstract

The cardiac isoforms of troponin I and T, proteins regulating of the contractile activity of the muscular fibre are very specific of the myocardic cell. At present and thanks to the development of new methods of immunodosage, the detection of these troponin in the blood is becoming a routine procedure. The excellent analytical sensibility of troponin assays allows the detection of minor myocardial damage and because of its high specificity, the cardiac isoform of troponin is use to diagnose ischeamic heart disease. There are two main advantages in the dosage of the cardiac troponin:

- Improvement of the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, especially in case of not contributory electrocardiogram and typical chest pain

- Early risk stratification in case of unstable angina, indeed the rise of the rates of troponin constitutes, in the same way as the evolutivity of the clinical signs, the intensity of the electrocardiographic signs one of the major element of the prognosis of unstable angina.