High-sensitivity cardiac troponins: sex-specific values in clinical practice Precision or confusion?

High-sensitivity cardiac troponins: sex-specific values in clinical practice Precision or confusion? Hellenic J Cardiol. 2019 Mar 06;: Authors: Ramos HR, López LE, Castro WQ, Serra CM Abstract Cardiac troponins are pivotal in the evaluation of patients who suffer from acute chest pain, and the introduction of the High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponins (hs-cTn) has shown that there are differences between male and female patients. Recent recommendations from experts point out that an appropriate evaluation must take into account the patients' sex, but there is no clear evidence of the implementation of this recommendation in the clinical practice, and the matter has sparked controversy. If the same cut-off value is used for both sexes, myocardial infarction in men might be overdiagnosed, especially in the elderly, who have relatively higher values, and might be underdiagnosed in most women. The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Task Force of Clinical Applications of Cardiac Bio-Markers (IFCCLM, TF-CB) 2018 and the Fourth Universal Definition of Acute Myocardial Infarction support the overall and sex-specific 99th percentile Upper Reference Limit (URL) cut-off value, but, based on the definition of hs-cTn assays, the Limit of Detection (LoD) may be considered a starting point for an assessment method that does not differentiate between the levels of hs-cTn in male and female patients suspected of suffe...
Source: Hellenic Journal of Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Tags: Hellenic J Cardiol Source Type: research