Rates of Positive Cardiac Troponin I and Creatine Kinase MB Mass among Patients Hospitalized for Suspected Acute Coronary Syndromes

Background: Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a more specific and sensitive biomarker than creatine kinase MB (CKMB) for detection of myocardial damage. We report the prevalence of positive cTnI and CKMB mass among patients hospitalized with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the potential impact of use of different reference cutoffs, particularly those proposed by European Society of Cardiology/American College of Cardiology (ESC/ACC) consensus guidelines, on rates of diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: We analyzed 1719 consecutive patients with suspected ACS admitted to an urban acute care hospital over a 6-month period. Patients (>18 years of age) had at least two separate sets of plasma biomarkers (cTnI and CKMB) measured more than 12–24 h after admission t