Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry
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A prospective multicenter study including 1410 chest pain patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes was carried out to examine the predictive value of biological cardiac markers for adverse events measured by a point-of-care system. Admission cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and myoglobin were measured in parallel on a point-of-care system in the emergency department and -- together with CK-MB mass -- on lab analyzers. In a one-year follow-up, cardiac and non-cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris and need for revascularization were registered. ⋯ Myoglobin and CK-MB mass identified increasing risk with increasing concentration quartiles; cardiac event rates were 2.8- to 4.4-fold higher between the quartiles with the lowest and those with the highest analyte concentration, respectively. There was no difference in non-cardiac death rates between any concentration quartiles. In conclusion, the prediction of clinical events by cardiac troponin T and myoglobin measured with a point-of-care analyzer in the emergency department was as good as that of the same cardiac markers and CK-MB mass measured on lab analyzers.