Importance and sensitivity of point-of-care cardiac troponin testing for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome and acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

To evaluate the importance and sensitivity of POC cTn testing for the diagnosis of ACS and AMI. Methods: A literature review of papers indexed in the PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, and Cochrane databases was conducted in July 2020, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Group guidelines. For inclusion, the papers had to be original, be developed on humans, involve POC cTn testing, and address the diagnosis of AMI or ACS. Results: Forty-three papers published between 1997 and 2020 were selected, providing data on a total of 51,410 individuals aged 18 to 98. The studies indicated the importance of POC cTn testing for diagnosing AMI and ACS, as well as its prognostic usefulness. The POC tests were found to have good discriminatory power, showing median sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values of 79.0%, 94.0%, 94.6%, and 62.5%, respectively. They were found to have an analytical performance equivalent to laboratory cTn tests, while having the advantage of providing results more quickly. Conclusion: POC cTn testing is rapid, sensitive diagnostic tool for ACS and AMI.