Markers in Cardiology: A Case-Orientated Approach. Jesse E. Adams, Fred S. Apple, and Allan S. Jaffe, editors. Malden, MA: Blackwell Futura Publishing, 2007, 261 pp, $99.95. ISBN 978-1-4051-3418-7.

Abstract

This book should be highly welcomed by clinicians who deal with internal medicine and cardiology in their daily practice. It will also be useful to clinical chemists, who provide clinicians with the results of marker measurement. To aid in the understanding of the complex process of using biomarker results for patient care, this book provides a case-orientated approach to the interpretation of biomarker measurements in patients suffering cardiac disease. The focus is primarily on troponin and brain natriuretic peptide and secondarily on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Although troponin was identified nearly a quarter of century ago, the process of enabling its use as a biomarker for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction has been a struggle. Troponin’s potential as a diagnostic biomarker seemed too good to be true, but the high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of troponin for detection of myocardial damage has been proven by numerous studies, as has the prognostic value of the marker. The impact of these findings led to the 2007 triple publication of “ Universal Redefinition of Myocardial Infarction ” (1). With the widespread implementation of troponin, however, several cases have been reported in which troponin …