RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The false positive troponin results: case studies of analytical interference
JF Clinical Medicine
JO Clin Med
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP 87
OP 88
DO 10.7861/clinmed.2021-0633
VO 22
IS 1
A1 Saerrah Murryam
A1 Paul Cook
A1 Sebastien Ellis
YR 2022
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/22/1/87.abstract
AB Cardiac troponin I and T are particularly sensitive and specific markers for cardiomyocyte damage. Myocardial injury can occur due to a discrepancy between oxygen supply and demand (eg coronary artery occlusion and arrhythmias), other cardiac causes (eg pericarditis, myocarditis, cardiac surgery, cardioversion etc) or systemic conditions (eg sepsis, stroke and chronic renal disease). The latest European Society of Cardiology guidelines help to guide clinicians through these different causes. Occasionally troponin concentrations may not fit the clinical presentation and, therefore, other aetiologies should be considered. An under-appreciated basis of a high troponin concentration is a false positive result, which can be attributable to analytical interference from components in the patient's blood. Uncovering this interference can be pivotal to avoid unnecessary and potentially harmful investigations or treatment for patients. We present two cases of false positive troponin results caused by analytical interference. The normal reference range for the assay (Access; Beckman Coulter, High Wycombe, UK) used at our organisation is 0–18 ng/L.