Clinical & Experimental Cardiology
Open Access

Abstract

Comparative Analysis of Abnormal Troponin and ST Deviations in Diagnosis of Myochardia Infarction

Chibuike Eze Nwafor*

Introduction: Cardiac Troponin (cTn) represents a pivotal protein complex involved in the contraction of the myocardium, the heart's muscular wall. The measurement and interpretation of troponin levels play a significant role in diagnosing Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and evaluating cases of potential cardiac chest pain. Troponin testing (assay) has always been used to diagnose MI but the presence of elevated troponin levels does not state one has MI, this study aims to determine if MI or other cardiac problems may be detected just by troponin testing and it also compares the results with the ECG to see if all patients with increased troponin levels were also diagnosed with MI.

Method: The study population consisted of 47 patients with elevated troponin levels at the GoodHeart Medical Consultants Hospital; the ECG data of the population were evaluated. ST elevation and depression was judged to be present if there was an upward or downward sloping ST-segment for atleast 0.08 s respectively in one or more of the 12 leads except aVR.

Results: The frequency of ECG recordings and troponin measurements for each patient, was at 100% for all included in the study. The mean ± standard deviation age of the patients was 61 ± 16.58 years and 25 (53%) were males while 22 (47%) were females. 28% of the study population had hypertensive heart disease, 19% had heart failure while 13% had Atrioventricular (AV) block. 49% of the study group had myocardial infarction while 17% had ischemic heart disease (myocardial ischemia), only 1 patient (2%) had stable angina. 78.26% who had myocardial infarction has ST elevation while 39.13% had depression.

Conclusion: This study shows that Cardiac Troponin (cTn) status and quantitative ST deviation (elevation and depression) are complementary in evaluating risk among patients with ACS and both should be used to establish prognosis and support medical decision making. Although cTn and ST deviation are both useful risk indicators, cTn seems to be more helpful than ST elevation in diagnosing NSTEMI.

Published Date: 2025-07-08; Received Date: 2023-11-07