Cardiac biomarkers Flashcards
What is CVD?
Conditions that are cause by atherosclerosis, the narrowing of the artery lumen due to lipid/protein deposition in the arterial wall
What can CVD progress to?
coronary heart disease (ischaemic heart disease and coronary artery disease), where the coronary circulation can’t meet oxygen demands of the heart
What is a stable angina?
Stable angina describes the narrowing of coronary artery
What are acute coronary syndromes?
Range of disorders that are caused by sudden obstruction of coronary arteries due to plaque rupture. 3 catagories:
- unstable angina
- acute myocardial infarction: NSTEMI and STEMI
Match the following causes of ACS
- Unstable angina
- Acute myocardial infarction
- NSTEMI
- STEMI
A. Non-ST elevation MI
B. Narrowing of arteries causing myocardial ischaemia at rest
C. Blockage in coronary arteries causing cardiac ischaemia+necrosis
D. ST elevation MI
1B
2C
3A
4D
How do you differentiate between the two acute myocardial infarctions?
Based on ECG findings
- STEMI; a major blockage in coronary artery causing elevated ST segment
- NSTEMI: non complete blockage of CA/complete blockage of minor artery causing changes to ECG but no ST elevation
What cellular damage cause necrosis in the heart?
Damage to myocytes results in necoris - marker for necrosis
What is the current cardiac biomarker? and how does it compare to previous ones?
The previous were non-specific, e.g. LDH, AST/ALT, CK, CK-MB and myoglobin
Troponin is the current marker as it is more specific.
What is troponin and its physiological function?
A protein complex made up of 3 units troponin T, I and C. Control the interaction between actin and myosin to control striated muscle contraction
Match the following
- Troponin I
- Troponin C
- Troponin T
A. Bind tropomyosin
B. ATPase inhibitor of actin-myosin interaction
C. Binds calcium
1B
2C
3A
What is the detection method of troponin and how does it work?
Uses immunoassay, which is possible because they differ in AA composition. Thus allowing us to distinguish between them.
What causes variability to troponin immunoassays?
Assays are not standardised so they give variable results.
- Variability is due to lack of reference material and use of different antibodies + cut-offs
Upon admission what is the process of diagnosing ACS?
ECG is the first line test.
- Persistent ST-elevation shows STEMI
- ST/T abnormalities or normal/undeteremined ECG require cardiac marker testing
Cardiac markers
- used to determine NSTEMI or unstable angina
What is the clinical utility for troponin?
cTnT and cTnI are biomarkers of cardiac muscle necrosis
- As oxygen availability decreases there is an increase in troponin causing arrest of muscle contraction
- Thus myocytes cant incuce contraction for heart beat
What makes troponin an ideal marker?
High specificity for myocardial damage (cardiac tissue damage)
- Gold standard for MI
- Increase occurs 1hr within MI
- Peaks at 18-24hrs
- Elevated for 2 weeks
What is the definition of diagnosing MI?
“Detection of a rise or fall of cardiac biomarker (preferably cardiac troponin) with at least one value above 99th percentile upper reference limits…”.