Synonyms

cTnT

Clinical Indications

Troponin T is a regulatory protein that helps heart muscle contract and is released into blood when cell damage occurs. Its use is in further investigation and risk stratification of patients with chest pain of undiagnosed origin.

Request Form

Combined Pathology Blood form (Yellow/Black)

Availability

Every day  8.00am  to 10.00pm. Requests received during this period will be analysed as soon as possible, the same day.

Specific Criteria

Sample must be taken at least 12 hours after admission (or after onset of clearly defined chest pain) and usually within 72 hours. A decision to request Troponin T will usually be made during the post-take ward round.

Turnaround Time

Same Day

Specimen

Serum

Volume

2 ml

Container

Yellow top (SST) tube. Lithium heparin (green top) samples are acceptable from 1.2.06.

Causes for Rejection

Not meeting specific criteria for analysis. Haemolysed sample.

Reference Range

A cut-off level of 0.05 ug/L is used, although detectable levels between 0.01 and 0.05 ug/L may be considered significant in the light of clinical presentation. Providing the sample has been taken at the appropriate time, patients with levels below 0.01 ug/L have undetectable cardiac damage and are identified as low risk. Such patients:-

• May be safely discharged/transferred out of CCU.
• Do not require Low Molecular Weight Heparin treatment to be commenced or continued