Impact of the measurement of troponin on the triage, prognosis, and treatment of patients with chest pain.

There are several issues driving the rapid advancement in diagnostic technology for acute cardiac syndromes. First is safety, primarily the need to improve sensitivity in lower-risk patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of ischemia; second is fiscal, especially to reduce the cost for the evaluation of low-risk chest pain patients; and third is therapeutic, including the ability to effectively risk-stratify patients who may be candidates for more aggressive therapy.