Standardization of cardiac markers.

Developing primary reference materials to standard cardiac biomarker assays, specifically cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), as well as develop quality specifications for immunoassays to optimize clinical use, whether for diagnostics or risk assessment, have been primary goals of the IFCC Committee on Standardization of Markers of Cardiac Damage (C-SMCD). The purpose of this paper is to review the current status of standardization issues for myoglobin, creatine kinase MB, cardiac troponin I and natriuretic peptides (BNP and NT-proBNP) and quality specifications for analytical immunoassays for the worldwide, consistent clinical utilization of these and future cardiac biomarkers.