IFCC educational materials on selected analytical and clinical applications of high sensitivity cardiac troponin assays

• Published in: Clinical biochemistry Vol. 48; no. 4-5; pp. 201 - 203
• Main Authors: Apple, Fred S., Jaffe, Allan S., Collinson, Paul, Mockel, Martin, Ordonez-Llanos, Jordi, Lindahl, Bertil, Hollander, Judd, Plebani, Mario, Than, Martin, Chan, M.H.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.03.2015
• Subjects: 99th percentile; Acute Coronary Syndrome - blood; Acute Coronary Syndrome - diagnosis; Biomarkers - blood; Chemistry, Clinical - education; High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays; Humans; IFCC; Internationality; Myocardial infarction; Myocardial Infarction - blood; Myocardial Infarction - diagnosis; Reference Values; Risk stratification; Societies, Scientific; Troponin I - blood; Troponin T - blood; Myocardial infarction; High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays; 99th percentile; Risk stratification; IFCC
• ISSN: 0009-9120; 1873-2933; 1873-2933
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2014.08.021

In 2011, the IFCC Task Force on Clinical Applications of Cardiac Bio-Markers (TF-CB) was formed, with the purpose of providing evidence based educational materials to assist all biomarker users, i.e. laboratorians, clinicians, researchers, in-vitro diagnostics and regulatory agencies, in better understanding important analytical and clinical aspects of established and novel cardiac biomarkers for use in clinical practice and research. The goal of the task force was to promulgate the same information conjointly through the in vitro diagnostic industry to the laboratory, emergency department and cardiologists. The initial undertaking of the TF-CB, which is comprised of laboratory medicine scientists, emergency medicine physicians and cardiologists, was to address two key issues pertaining to implementing high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) assays in clinical practice: the 99th percentile upper reference limit (URL) and calculating serial change values in accord with the Universal Definition of AMI. The highlights of both concepts from IFCC statements are described.