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Troponin T - 000243

This is a test which measures the level of the protein called troponin T present in the blood. This protein is present in cardiac muscle, and is usually not present in large amounts freely in the circulating blood. But on those occasions when the heart muscle undergoes an injury, then these proteins are released into the blood stream and can be found in high levels.

The troponin T test will help your doctor evaluate the level of the protein, troponin T present in the blood, and determine the presence of any damage to the heart muscle. The greater the amount of damage, the higher the levels of troponin T present in your blood. This in turn will give your doctor an idea about the severity of the condition you are suffering from as well.

If you complain of symptoms such as chest pain or you are showing signs of a myocardial infarction, your doctor will order this test because they suspect that you might be having a condition which has affected your heart muscle and caused some damage. Troponin T has been used as a reliable marker of acute coronary syndromes. This test can also be used to assess silent myocardial infarctions as the troponin levels remain elevated up to 1 to 2 weeks following a myocardial infarction.

There are no special preparations that you have to make before you undergo this test.

During this, a Medical Lab Technician will draw out a small volume of blood, using a needle and syringe which is inserted into a vein in your arm. This blood sample is then sent to the lab for analysis.

Since this test is a simple drawing of blood, you will not feel a lot of discomfort. You might experience a mild pain on inserting the needle, but you will not experience any uneasiness afterwards.

There is very little risk in undergoing a troponin T test, because it is a simple blood drawing. Very rarely you might continue to have a mild pain or some swelling at the site where the needle was inserted, but these symptoms will resolve on their own within a couple of days.

The normal value for the level of troponin T in your blood should be less than 0.01 mg/ml in patients older than 17 years of age. Depending on how elevated the levels of troponin T are, the severity of the damage to your heart muscle can be determined. But there can be occasions where an elevated troponin T level does not necessarily indicate a myocardial infarction, and can even sometime be due to non-cardiac causes such as renal failure and pulmonary embolism. If you have values greater than 0.01 mg/ml then you should speak with your doctor regarding this.

As mentioned above, although this is considered to be a cardiac specific test, there may be other health conditions which can result in elevated levels of troponin T such as renal failure and pulmonary embolism. Therefore you need to discuss these pre-existing conditions with your doctor before you undergo this test.