Diagnostic accuracy of combined cardiac troponin and copeptin assessment for early rule-out of myocardial infarction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

International audienceAIMS:This systematic review aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of combined cardiac troponin (cTn) and copeptin assessment in comparison to cTn alone for early rule-out of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).METHODS:Primary studies were eligible if they evaluated diagnostic accuracy for cTn with and without copeptin in patients with symptoms suggestive of AMI. AMI was defined according to the universal definition, using detection of cTn as a marker for myocardial necrosis. Eligible studies were identified by searching electronic databases (Medline, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, CINAHL, Pascal, and Cochrane) from inception to March 2013, reviewing conference proceedings and contacting field experts and the copeptin manufacturer.RESULTS:In 15 studies totalling 8740 patients (prevalence of AMI 16%), adding copeptin improved the sensitivity of cTn assays (from 0.87 to 0.96, p=0.003) at the expense of lower specificity (from 0.84 to 0.56, p