Cardiac Marker Tests

Definition

Cardiac marker tests identify blood chemicals associated with myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack. The myocardium is the middle layer of the heart wall composed of heart muscle. Infarction is tissue death caused by an interruption in the blood supply to an area.

Purpose

Cardiac markers help physicians to assess acute coronary syndromes and to identify and manage high-risk patients. Creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), myoglobin, homocysteine, C-reactive protein (CRP), troponin T (cTnT), and troponin I (cTnI) are all used for assessment of the suspected acute myocardial infarction. CK-MB, cTnT, and cTnI may also be used to identify and manage high-risk patients.

Precautions

C-reactive...

[The entire page is 1795 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: