Unexpectedly elevated cardiac troponin I level in the patient without acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND

Since cTnI assay is leading test in diagnostic of myocardial infarctions, and it is used for risk assessment in patients with ACS as well as unstable angina pectoris, it is very important to measure its concentration accurately and precisely.

METHODS

Here we report a case in which there was a significant difference in the cTnI concentrations measured by three different methods, which was detected in one patient's sera during preoperative evaluation for cardiac surgery.

RESULTS

Due to variations in the results for the cTnI concentrations (0.62; 0.13; 0.89 microg/L), the question was raised about the possibility of an interference known to occur in especially rare situations. A 76-year-old male was operated, temporal elevation and subsequent decrease in the concentrations of cTnI were monitored.

CONCLUSIONS

It was observed that results obtain with different assays are not comparable.