Cardiac Marker Changes Over Time

Updated: Apr 17, 2018
  • Author: Buck Christensen; Chief Editor: Buck Christensen  more...
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Cardiac Marker Changes

Cardiac markers are used in the diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with chest pain and suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS). [1] The cardiac troponins, in particular, have become the cardiac markers of choice for patients with ACS. Cardiac troponin is central to the definition of acute myocardial infarction (MI) [2] in the consensus guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). [3, 4, 5]

For a more comprehensive discussion of cardiac markers, see the Medscape article Cardiac Markers.

Table 1. Cardiac Marker Changes Over Time (Open Table in a new window)

Marker

Onset (hours)

Peak (hours)

Duration

Troponin I

3-12

10-24

3-10 days

Troponin T

3-12

12-48

5-14 days

Creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB)

4-6

24

2-3 days

Myoglobin

2-4

6-12

24-36 hours