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PubMed1981

Quantification of amebae specific antibodies as "Multiple of normal activity (MONA)" with a standardized enzyme immunoassay (EIA).

Sera of 853 returnees from tropical countries, of 24 cases with amebic liver abscess and of 172 nonexposed German individuals were tested for antibodies to E. histolytica in the enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Antibody results were expressed as "multiple of normal activity (MONA)". The qualification of the EIA as a routine screening procedure for amebae specific antibodies was investigated and compared to that of the complement fixation test. Based on the symmetric frequency distribution of results from the 172 non-exposed controls the upper one sided limits for 95% (less than 2.8 MONA) and 99% (less than 4.2 MONA) specificity were determined. Routine results below the 95% specificity limit were considered "inconspicuous", such between both limits "borderline" and all MONA values exceeding the 99% specificity limit "conspicuous". The intention was to thereby secure a high degree of sensitivity for amebae antibody in the test. Cases with clinically confirmed liver abscess revealed a one sided lower 95% sensitivity limit (greater than or equal to 1.2 MONA), far above the onset of the defined sensitivity thresholds for conspicuous MONA values.

Antibodies↗
PubMed1991

Auditory brainstem response to clicks in quiet, notch noise, and highpass noise.

Auditory brainstem responses to clicks in quiet, notch noise, and highpass noise were recorded from 10 normal-hearing adults. Contrary to some reports, the latency of wave V increased as the center frequency of the notch decreased. Response identifiability and wave V amplitudes were similar for the notch and highpass noises. Thus, the additional frequencies below the notch did not contribute sufficiently to the response to alter identifiability or amplitude. Notch noise, as compared to the highpass noise, is advantageous because of the increased frequency-specificity provided by the low-frequency masking noise. Presenting clicks in highpass or notch noise centered at 500 Hz is of limited value for assessing auditory sensitivity. This is because the range of testable hearing levels is restricted by (1) a high normal ABR threshold (approximately 65 dB nHL) and (2) the high noise levels required to mask the click. This limited dynamic range for assessing hearing loss is a major limitation of click in noise testing, particularly for 500 Hz. Generating a two-point audiogram by presenting clicks in noise with notches centered around 1000 Hz and 4000 Hz may prove promising for assessing auditory sensitivity.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A core group model for disease transmission.

Models for sexually transmitted diseases generally assume that the size of the core group is fixed. Publicly available information on disease prevalence may influence the recruitment of new susceptibles into highly sexually active populations. It is assumed that the recruitment rate into the core population is low while disease prevalence is high, core group members mix only with each other, disease levels outside the core are negligible, and some core group members reduce their risk through the use of a partially effective vaccine or prophylactics. A demographic-epidemic model is formulated in which the combined size of the core and non-core population is constant. A simpler version models the epidemic in an isolated core population of constant size under the influence of educational programs and measures that reduce susceptibility. The threshold condition for an endemic infection is determined. Backward bifurcations, multiple infective stationary states, and hysteresis phenomena can be observed even in the simplified version. Abrupt changes in disease prevalence levels may result from small changes in the disease management parameters and do not occur in the absence of such a program. The general conclusion is that partially effective vaccination or education programs may increase the total number of cases while decreasing the relative frequency of cases in the core group. The study throws some new light on the role of the reproduction number in connection with elimination attempts. It shows that although the reproduction number defines the threshold for the spread of the disease in a susceptible population, it is of limited value when elimination of an existing epidemic is planned.

Demography↗
PubMed2002

Atherosclerotic lesions in genetically modified mice quantified in vivo by non-invasive high-resolution magnetic resonance microscopy.

We have previously shown that magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) accurately quantifies atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E deficient (ApoE(-/-)) mice aged 36-84 weeks. The present study tests MRM in the quantification of aortic atherosclerosis over a broader range of lesion severity. Younger mice with less advanced disease were imaged in order to evaluate sensitivity, specificity and maximum practical resolution of MRM. Nineteen mice underwent in vivo MRM. Wall area measurements by MRM and light microscopy (LM) (n=43) were highly correlated (r=0.85, slope=0.88, P<0.0001). Wall areas by MRM ranged from 0.114 to 0.934 (median, 0.334) mm(2). A threshold of 0.35 mm(2), for the upper limit of normal, gave MRM positive predictive value (PPV) for detecting abnormally thickened arteries=89.5% and negative predictive value (NPV)=75%, referred to LM. Lesion shape assessed by LM and MRM were also well correlated (r=0.72, P<0.001). Increased wall area in atherosclerosis was found by MRM (P=0.01) and LM (P<0.0001) to be accommodated entirely by 'positive remodeling', confirming the importance of determining plaque size directly. MRM accurately quantifies mouse aortic atherosclerosis and will enhance studies in this important animal model.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Susceptibility testing: accurate and reproducible minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and non-inhibitory concentration (NIC) values.

Measuring the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of a substance by current methods is straightforward, whereas obtaining useful comparative information from the tests can be more difficult. A simple technique and a method of data analysis are reported which give the experimentalist more useful information from susceptibility testing. This method makes use of a 100-well microtitre plate and the analysis uses all the growth information, obtained by turbidometry, from each and every well of the microtitre plate. A modified Gompertz function is used to fit the data, from which a more exact value can be obtained for the MIC. The technique also showed that at certain concentrations of inhibitor, there was no effect on growth relative to a control well (zero inhibitor). Above a threshold value, which has been termed the non-inhibitory concentration or NIC, growth becomes limiting until it reaches the MIC, where no growth relative to the control is observed.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1989

Colour vision and dark adaptation in diabetic patients after photocoagulation.

Colour vision and dark adaptation were studied in 60 diabetic patients treated with photocoagulation. An acquired colour vision defect was found in 50% and a defective dark adaptation in 77% of the patients. Both colour vision and dark adaptation were defective in 47% of the patients. Colour vision defect only was found in 3% and dark adaptation defect only in 30% of the patients. Neither of these defects was found in 20% of the patients. The Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test showed a blue-yellow axis in 24 of the 30 colour defective patients. In the patients with an impaired dark adaptation, the range of the cone and rod threshold elevations from the normal upper limit was from 0.2 to 1.4 log units. The Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test scores showed a significant positive correlation to the values of both cone and rod thresholds.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Hypercholesterolemia in the rabbit induced by feeding graded amounts of low-level cholesterol. Methodological considerations regarding individual variability in response to dietary cholesterol and development of lesion type.

While a number of studies have presented detailed examinations of lesion development in the cholesterol-fed rabbit, individual variability in response to cholesterol feeding and type of lesion produced relative to the degree of cholesterol exposure is not well defined. This study analyzed such critical parameters in an attempt to further characterize the model and establish a baseline for future testing of treatments targeted at limiting atherosclerosis. For these experiments, male New Zealand White rabbits were fed atherogenic diets consisting of 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15%, 0.20%, or 0.25% cholesterol dissolved in 6% peanut oil for 31 to 32 weeks. Raising dietary cholesterol from 0.05% to 0.15% resulted in a less than twofold stepwise increase in total plasma cholesterol (TPC) exposure (area under plasma cholesterol versus time curve), whereas further increases in cholesterol intake resulted in an exponential four- to fivefold increase in TPC exposure. Regression analysis of TPC exposure with aortic sudanophilia demonstrated a threshold of approximately 5000 cholesterol weeks; below this limit lesions were minimal, and above this value the degree of plaque correlated with TPC exposure. Furthermore, a wide biological variability occurred among rabbits with respect to individual responsiveness to dietary cholesterol. In the aorta, various types of plaques, from fatty streaks to atheromatous lesions, were observed, depending on the degree of cholesterol intake. Diets consisting of < 0.15% cholesterol resulted in the development of fatty streak lesions, while transitional lesions and atheromatous plaques were mostly found with higher cholesterol feeding. Coronary artery atherosclerosis was present in > 50% of animals fed diets > or = 0.15% cholesterol. Despite the level of TPC exposure, coronary lesions in epicardial vessels were generally the fibrous type, whereas intramyocardial arteries demonstrated predominantly intimal foam cells. In conclusion, by adjusting dietary cholesterol intake and selecting rabbits with a similar responsiveness to cholesterol, the overall cholesterol exposure can be more closely controlled to minimize the inherent individual variability among animals in this model. The nature of the target lesion must also be carefully considered, because the efficacy of some treatments may depend on the type of atherosclerotic plaque.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Limitations of mRNA amplification from small-size cell samples.

BACKGROUND: Global mRNA amplification has become a widely used approach to obtain gene expression profiles from limited material. An important concern is the reliable reflection of the starting material in the results obtained. This is especially important with extremely low quantities of input RNA where stochastic effects due to template dilution may be present. This aspect remains under-documented in the literature, as quantitative measures of data reliability are most often lacking. To address this issue, we examined the sensitivity levels of each transcript in 3 different cell sample sizes. ANOVA analysis was used to estimate the overall effects of reduced input RNA in our experimental design. In order to estimate the validity of decreasing sample sizes, we examined the sensitivity levels of each transcript by applying a novel model-based method, TransCount. RESULTS: From expression data, TransCount provided estimates of absolute transcript concentrations in each examined sample. The results from TransCount were used to calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient between transcript concentrations for different sample sizes. The correlations were clearly transcript copy number dependent. A critical level was observed where stochastic fluctuations became significant. The analysis allowed us to pinpoint the gene specific number of transcript templates that defined the limit of reliability with respect to number of cells from that particular source. In the sample amplifying from 1000 cells, transcripts expressed with at least 121 transcripts/cell were statistically reliable and for 250 cells, the limit was 1806 transcripts/cell. Above these thresholds, correlation between our data sets was at acceptable values for reliable interpretation. CONCLUSION: These results imply that the reliability of any amplification experiment must be validated empirically to justify that any gene exists in sufficient quantity in the input material. This finding has important implications for any experiment where only extremely small samples such as single cell analyses or laser captured microdissected cells are available.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2006

Localized CO2 laser damage repair of fused silica optics.

A technique has been developed for the localized treatment of laser damage sites in fused silica optics by CO2 laser melt-flow smoothing, by using a 50 to 125 microm diameter beam in a regime that avoids mass removal by ablation. A detailed calibration of the laser irradiance for the threshold ablation of craters was carried out for a range of beam diameters and pulses in the 20 micros to 200 ms range. The results agree with a thermal model that also provides estimates of the melt depth for the different irradiation conditions. Smoothing trials for glass melting at irradiance values just below the ablation threshold irradiance were conducted to determine the optimum conditions and limits for the smoothing process. The technique has been found to remove damage pits up to a depth of 0.5 microm, while the small melt depth associated with localized treatment limits the smoothing to a <or=5 microm lateral size.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

[ROC analysis comparing screen film mammography and digital mammography].

PURPOSE: To compare the diagnosis performances of radiologists on screen film versus digital mammography. MATERIAL: and methods: Two sets of 123 mammograms, screen film mammography and storage phosphor digital mammography, are studied comparatively with ROC analysis. RESULTS: Phantom study show that conventional method give better scores for usual tension but the detectability of smaller microcalcification is equivalent. To obtain with digital technic the same conventional score you have to increase the radiation dose. Roc Curves, simulated "detection" mode showed that radiologists performed with higher accuracy with conventional system but this difference is weekly statistically significant. ROC Curves, simulated "diagnostic" mode showed the same results wit no statistically significant difference but when the decision to go to the biopsy is the gold standard, ROC Curves were essentially equivalent for both film screen and digital mammography system. The readers consistently considered the digital mammograms to be less suspicious for cancer findings. The agreement study as proposed by the FDA indicate that probability of a positive digital mammograms given a positive screen film is 75% (threshold value 90%) and the probability of a negative digital mammograms given a negative analog film is 85% (threshold value 85%). CONCLUSION: Analysis of specific discrepancies indicate that spatial resolution is an essential limiting factor for digital method but high resolution phosphor plate are interesting in imaging treated breast, radioluscent lesion, fatty benign tumor, hamartoma, intramammary lymph node, breast with prosthesis.

Biopsy↗
PubMed2002

Taste perception of cigarette smokers.

In this work we have ventured to establish the dependencies between taste sensitivity for four basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter and endogenous factors such as sex and age and one exogenous factor, namely cigarette smoking. 471 randomly selected people, including 194 men and 277 women of different age were examined. Individual taste sensitivity was determined in the examined group, by means of saccharose, sodium chloride, acetic acid and quinine solutions. This examination showed that individual sensitivity limits range greatly to encompass varying concentrations of given taste substances. Values of individual sensitivity thresholds for stimulus substances and sensory minimum values obtained in this work showed that a substantial part of the examined people identified individual tastes at concentrations to a great extent exceeding mean threshold values. It can be supposed that those were cases of hypogeusia. There were also some instances of ageusia--a complete lack of sensitivity for sweet and bitter tastes. It was showed that cigarette smoking influences taste sensitivity of the examined people to a small extent. The changes observed were diversified and, in the majority of cases, statistically irrelevant. It can be assumed that taste receptor deficits caused by toxic compounds present in cigarette smoke are compensated by other senses. The conducted research pointed to no particular connection between identification thresholds of four basic senses and the age of the examined people. It can be caused by great diversification of individual threshold values. The research shows that, to a certain extent, taste sensitivity depends on gender. Generally speaking, women exhibit greater taste sensitivity in comparison to men. It seems that these differences are of hormonal nature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

How to use body tilt for the simulation of linear self motion.

We examined to what extent body tilt may augment the perception of visually simulated linear self acceleration. Fourteen subjects judged visual motion profiles of fore-aft motion at four different frequencies between 0.04-0.33 Hz, and at three different acceleration amplitudes (0.44, 0.88 and 1.76 m/s(2)). Simultaneously, subjects were tilted backward and forward about their pitch axis. The amplitude of pitch tilt was systematically varied. Using a two-alternative-forced-choice paradigm, psychometric curves were calculated in order to determine: 1) the minimum tilt amplitude required to generate a linear self-motion percept in more than 50% of the cases, and 2) the maximum tilt amplitude at which rotation remains sub-threshold in more than 50% of the cases. The results showed that the simulation of linear self motion became more realistic with the application of whole body tilt, as long as the tilt rate remained under the detection threshold of about 3 deg/s. This value is in close agreement with the empirical rate limit commonly used in flight simulation. The minimum required motion cue was inversely proportional to stimulus frequency, and increased with the amplitude of the visual displacement (rather than acceleration). As a consequence, the range of useful tilt stimuli became more critical with increasing stimulus frequency. We conclude that this psychophysical approach reveals valid parameters for motion driving algorithms used in motion base simulators.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1997

[Virtual bronchoscopy: the correlation between endoscopic simulation and bronchoscopic findings].

PURPOSE: We carried out a preliminary clinical validation of 3D spiral CT virtual endoscopic reconstructions of the tracheobronchial tree, by comparing virtual bronchoscopic images with actual endoscopic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients with tracheobronchial disease suspected at preliminary clinical, cytopathological and plain chest film findings were submitted to spiral CT of the chest and bronchoscopy. CT was repeated after endobronchial therapy in 2 cases. Virtual endoscopic shaded-surface-display views of the tracheobronchial tree were reconstructed from reformatted CT data with an Advantage Navigator software. Virtual bronchoscopic images were preliminarily evaluated with a semi-quantitative quality score (excellent/good/fair/poor). The depiction of consecutive airway branches was then considered. Virtual bronchoscopies were finally submitted to double-blind comparison with actual endoscopies. RESULTS: Virtual image quality was considered excellent in 8 cases, good in 14 and fair in 2. Virtual exploration was stopped at the lobar bronchi in one case only; the origin of segmental bronchi was depicted in 23 cases and that of some subsegmental branches in 2 cases. Agreement between actual and virtual bronchoscopic findings was good in all cases but 3 where it was nevertheless considered satisfactory. The yield of clinically useful information differed in 8/24 cases: virtual reconstructions provided more information than bronchoscopy in 5 cases and vice versa in 3. Virtual reconstructions are limited in that the procedure is long and difficult and needing a strictly standardized threshold value not to alter virtual findings. Moreover, the reconstructed surface lacks transparency, there is the partial volume effect and the branches < or = 4 pixels phi and/or meandering ones are difficult to explore. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary data are encouraging. Segmental bronchi were depicted in nearly all cases, except for the branches involved by disease. Obstructing lesions could be bypassed in some cases, making an indication for endoscopic laser therapy. Future didactic perspectives and applications to minimally invasive or virtual reality-assisted therapy seem promising, even though actual clinical applications require further studies.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of cytokeratin 19 serum fragments (CYFRA 21-1) in patients with lung cancer: results of a multicenter trial.

Recently, a new immunometric assay (Cyfra 21-1) was developed to measure serum concentrations of a soluble fragment of cytokeratin subunit 19. With this method, supplied by Boehringer Mannheim (EIA Test Cyfra 21-1), an Italian multicenter trial was performed in patients with lung cancer. Cyfra 21-1 serum levels were determined in 568 normal subjects (blood donors), 607 patients with non-malignant diseases (491 respiratory diseases) and 730 patients with malignancies. In the latter group 584 had lung cancer. All these 584 patients had pathologically confirmed disease; 314 were epidermoid tumors, 166 adenocarcinomas, 88 small cell cancers and 16 large cell cancers. In the 568 healthy blood donors the mean Cyfra 21-1 value was 0.91 ng/ml (SD 0.47 ng/ml; range 0.05-2.90 ng/ml). A threshold of 1.9 ng/ml was chosen as the upper limit of normality. High levels of Cyfra 21-1 were observed in patients with chronic hepatitis (positivity rate: 17/51-33.3%) and with pancreatitis (positivity rate 5/16-31.3%). In 114 out of 491 (23.2%) patients with respiratory diseases Cyfra 21-1 showed values greater than 1.9 ng/ml. The overall sensitivity (all stages) of Cyfra 21-1 in lung cancer was 65.6% (383/584). When the histology was considered the highest positivity rates were found in patients with squamous cell tumors (226/314; 72%) followed by adenocarcinomas (105/166; 63%). In patients with SCLC the global sensitivity was 52.3% (46/88). Higher sensitivity of Cyfra 21-1 was observed from stage I to stage IV (53.9% vs 85.7%; Chi square: p < 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1996

Instrument effect on the activated protein C resistance plasma assay performed by a commercial kit.

In order to evaluate the influence of the coagulation instrument on the activated protein C (APC)-resistance plasma assay performed by a commercial kit, we tested 70 plasma samples on 4 different instruments during a simultaneous session run using a same lot of Coatest APC-resistance (Chromogenix). The results were analyzed employing three different modes of expression (aPTT prolongation in the presence of APC, APC-sensitivity ratio, normalized APC-sensitivity ratio) and three different diagnostic threshold values (below the control mean--2 standard deviations or the lowest control value or the 5th percentile of the control values). The inter-instruments variability in the mean values of the control individuals can be limited expressing the results as normalized-APC-sensitivity ratio (range 0.99-1.05). The overall diagnostic yield in thrombotic patients and their relatives depended mainly on the instrument employed and only in some cases on the mode of expression of the results and on the diagnostic threshold value. The sensitivity of the commercial assay on heterozygotes for factor V Leiden diagnosed by gene analysis was overall satisfactory (75-100%) but in some cases a lower diagnostic yield was noticed, depending on the type of instrument employed and/or the type of expression of the results and/or the diagnostic threshold values. Thus the instrument system adopted should be carefully considered in the interpretation of the results using the commercial kit.

Blood Coagulation Tests↗
PubMed1999

Comparison of lung-function reference values.

OBJECTIVE: Lung-function reference values play an important role in medical surveillance examinations of occupational and environmental respiratory diseases, in stipulation of preventive measures, in initiation of therapeutic measures, and in granting of benefits to which individuals with lung injuries or occupational lung diseases are entitled (e.g., bronchial asthma, pneumoconiosis, or farmer's lung disease). Prediction equations most widely used are based on studies performed more than 20 years ago and may not represent the findings obtained in today's population. METHODS: We recorded case histories and lung function values of 139 healthy subjects (spirometric and plethysmographic data, T(LCO)) and computed the differences of measured values minus predicted ones as recommended by different authors. RESULTS: The means of these differences can be seen as shifts in our group versus the theoretical (predicted) values of various authors. These shifts, the standardized mean values of residuals, and their probability as determined under the assumptions of the respective regression model and the number of subjects below the threshold limits are given. FVC, FEV1, and FEV1%FVC show mostly good agreement with the recommendations by Crapo et al., Roca et al., Glindmeyer et al., Brändli et al., and Berger et al. Our IVC and FVC values do not differ significantly from each other. Normative flow-volume curve parameters of various authors deviate widely, however, and are not compatible with the values of our control group. Plethysmographically measured volumes (FRC, TLC, and RV) are only insufficiently reflected by Quanjer's reference equations. Measured T(LCO) and K(CO) show good agreement with the predictions of Cotes et al. [11] for females but display less concurrence with the predictions for males. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the ERS values of FVC, FEV1, and FEV1%FVC mainly applied in Europe should be verified. The much better-evaluated formulas of Brändli et al. are recommended. Furthermore, the age range between 60 and 70 years should be extrapolated from these formulas until better epidemiological data on lung function are available.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Role of serum C-reactive protein as a marker of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: The usefulness of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a tumour marker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine whether CRP estimation could be used to identify patients with HCC among those with cirrhosis. METHODS: Serum levels of CRP and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were investigated in 122 previously untreated patients with cirrhosis and HCC. Another 76 patients with cirrhosis alone were also investigated as controls. RESULTS: Of the subjects tested, 47.5% of patients with HCC and 39.5% of controls had elevated CRP values (> 6 microg/mL). Although using elevated CRP and/or AFP (> 20 ng/mL) as a criterion showed a significant difference between controls and patients with multiple nodular, massive, or diffuse type HCC (all P < 0.005), the clinical application of this criterion was limited because of low specificity (58%) and accuracy (all < 73%). By using receiver-operating characteristic curves no valuable threshold value of CRP was found to discriminate various types of HCC, except for distinguishing the diffuse type from controls. The CRP value of 12 microg/mL could be used as the cut-off value to differentiate diffuse-type HCC from controls (sensitivity 82.4%, specificity 82%, accuracy 82.1%, P<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Serum CRP is not a good marker for HCC. However, very high values of CRP in patients with cirrhosis may suggest the presence of a diffuse-type HCC.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Analytical and diagnostic performance of troponin assays in patients suspicious for acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND: The controversy whether there is a clinically significant difference between troponin T (cTnT) and troponin I (cTnI) in regard to predictive value and cardiac specificity is still ongoing. METHODS: We evaluated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay systems for cTnI and cTnT in patients with acute coronary syndromes and multiple control groups to define threshold values for risk stratification and compare their predictive value. RESULTS: In 312 patients with noncardiac chest pain, cTnI levels were below the detection limit of 0.2 microg/L and cTnT levels were 0.011 [0.010-0. 013] microg/L. In patients with end-stage renal failure (n = 26) and acute (n = 38) or chronic (n = 16) skeletal muscle damage, median concentrations were 0.20 [0.20-0.35], below the detection limit, and 0.20 [0.20-0.25] for cTnI, and 0.04 [0.01-0.10], 0.011 [0.005-0.025], and 0.032 [0.009-0.054] microg/L for cTnT. In patients with acute coronary syndromes (n = 1130), maximized prognostic value for 30-day outcome (death, infarction) was observed at a threshold level of 1.0 microg/L for cTnI (29.0% positive) and at 0.06 microg/L for cTnT (35. 0% positive). Significant differences in the area-under-the-curve values were observed between cTnI and cTnT (0.685 vs. 0.802; p = 0. 005). For both markers, the area-under-the-curve values did not increase with the second (within 24 h after enrollment) or third (48 h) blood draw. CTnI showed a less strong association with 30-day outcome than cTnT. When cTnI was put in a logistic multiple-regression model first, cTnT did add significant information. CONCLUSION: By using the defined threshold values and the employed test systems, single testing for cTnI and cTnT within 12 h after symptom onset was appropriate for risk stratification. Despite the lower cardiac specificity for cTnT, it appears to have a stronger association with the patients' outcome, whereas, as previously shown, the ability to identify patients who benefit from treatment with a GP IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist is similar.

Acute Disease↗