Clinical application of two novel rapid bedside tests for the detection of cardiac troponin T and creatine kinase-MB mass/myoglobin in whole blood in acute myocardial infarction.

The objective of this study was to determine whether two novel rapid bedside assays for whole-blood detection of cardiac troponin T and creatine kinase (CK)-MB mass/myoglobin could rule out or rule in acute myocardial infarction in patients with acute chest pain. Ninety-two patients with chest pain <12 h prior to admission were investigated. No difference in the cumulative sensitivity of the TropT test and the CARDIAC STATus test (CK-MB mass and myoglobin in combination) was found 6 h after admission (94 vs. 97%). The cumulative positive predictive value of the TropT test and CARDIAC STATus test 6 h after admission was 97 and 76%, respectively. The negative predictive value was 97% for the TropT test and 98% for the CARDIAC STATus test at this time point. Our data show that the rapid assays provide diagnostic as well as prognostic information shortly after admission.