The Usefulness and Limitations of Point-of-care Cardiac Troponin Measurement in the Emergency Department

: Objective This study was carried out to examine the usefulness of point-of-care (POC) cardiac troponin in diagnosing acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to understand the limitations of a POC cardiac troponin I/T-based diagnoses. Methods Patients whose cardiac troponin levels were measured in the emergency department using a POC system (AQT System; Radiometer, Tokyo, Japan) between January and December 2016 were retrospectively examined (N=1,449). Patients who were 3 hours after symptom onset (83.3%) than in those sampled ≤ 3 hours after symptom onset (58.8%, p 3 hours after the onset of symptoms, the POC cardiac troponin I level is considered to be suitable for use in diagnosing ACS. However, when sampled ≤ 3 hours after the onset of symptoms, careful interpretation of POC cardiac troponins is therefore required to rule out ACS.