EVALUATION OF SERUM TROPONIN T MEASUREMENTIN ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

The release kinetics of the cardiac specific troponin T (cTnT), measured by an immunosorbent assay, in 32 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was evaluated. In 8 AMI patients (25%), the release kinetics of serum cTnT showed biphasic serum concentration curves with a large peak at 10 to 18 hours after onset and the serum cTnT concentrations were up to 30 to 120 times of the normal upper limit-detected (0.2 μg / ml), and another samll cTnT peak at 70 to 100 hours after onset of pain. The serum cTnT measurements in the remaining 24 AMI patients (75%) gave only one large peak which was around 32 to 108 hours after onset of pain. cTnT appeared in serum as early as 3 to 4 hours and remained elevated until 240 hours after the infarctions. The results indicated that (1) cTnT was a sensitive and specific marker of AMI; (2) the biphasic curve of cTnT releae in general, the ratio of cTnT at around 14 to 32 (14/32)>1 in particular, may be a useful marker suggesting early reperfusion; (3) the continuous