Biomarker Diagnostics in Acute Cardiac and Noncardiac Dyspnea : Is There a Role for Point-of-Care Testing?

Abstract EN

The use of biomarkers in acute chest pain and dyspnea is well established and point-of-care testing (POCT) is increasingly used in emergency departments and chest pain units for this purpose.

However, few data give evidence that POCT has advantages for the patient or the medical process over central laboratory testing.

Especially for troponin testing in patients with myocardial infarction, the newest guidelines define prerequisites on diagnostic test quality which most POC assays do not fulfill.

Additionally, no data are available showing that POCT has relevant effect on a change of physician’s diagnostic and therapeutic thinking compared to laboratory testing.

Regarding patient outcomes and societal costs, central laboratory testing seems to be even superior to POCT.

The main limit of currently available POC troponin assays is the higher limit of detection and higher imprecision compared to the new high sensitive laboratory assays.

However, new upcoming POC technologies may perform comparable to today’s laboratory analyzers.