Loading...
Many are concerned that lowering the cutoff value for myocardial necrosis on cardiac troponin tests will increase the number of false-positive results, thereby subjecting patients to unnecessary procedures. To assess the effect of lowering the diagnostic threshold, investigators used a sensitive assay to measure plasma troponin I concentrations in 2092 consecutive patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes (ACS) admitted to a single institution in Edinburgh, Scotland. Patients were stratified according to plasma troponin concentration (<0.05 ng/mL, 0.05–0.19 ng/mL, and ≥0.20 ng/mL). During a 6-month validation phase, the diagnostic troponin threshold for myocardial infarction (MI) was 0.20 ng/mL; during the following 6-month implement…