Can a troponin test help diagnose people with coronary heart disease?

Troponin in Acute chest pain to Risk stratify and Guide EffecTive use of Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography (TARGET-CTCA)

This team of cardiologists think a highly sensitive blood test could help to detect people who are at risk of a future heart attack. Most people attending the emergency department with chest pain will have a blood test to measure troponin, a protein released into the bloodstream when the heart muscle is damaged. If a heart attack is ruled out, many will be discharged home without further investigation or treatment. However, even if troponin levels don’t indicate a heart attack, some patients will still have underlying coronary artery disease that could lead to one in the future. These researchers want to find the best way to identify these people so that future heart problems can be prevented. Using a more sensitive troponin test, the Edinburgh team has found that levels below the threshold to diagnose a heart attack can also give clues about coronary artery disease. In this study, they want to find out whether this new test could identify those patients who should go on to have further testing for coronary artery disease with heart scans. The hope is that this highly sensitive troponin test will enable doctors to detect people without a heart attack who will benefit most from further testing and preventative treatment. This could help diagnose coronary artery disease earlier and prevent people from having a heart attack in the future.