Point-of-Care Troponin Testing in Patients With Symptoms Suggestive of Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Health Technology Assessment

Abstract

Testing of cardiac biomarkers, such as cardiac troponin I or cardiac troponin T, has an important role in the diagnostic workup for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (including acute myocardial infarction [AMI] and unstable angina), and in patients presenting with acute chest pain and a non-diagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG). Bedside testing of cardiac troponins (cTn) using point-of-care (POC) assays was developed to reduce the turnaround time of the standard tests performed in a central laboratory, and to expedite treatment. Given the introduction and increasing diffusion of POC cTn use, a review of its clinical and economic evidence is needed to inform decisions about its acquisition and use in emergency rooms and other in-hospital settings, as well as in rural health care centres and remote settings.