Myocardial infarction complicating critical illness

Daniel A King¹ and Yaniv Almog²

¹Fellow, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA

²Director, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel

author email corresponding author email

Critical Care 2005, 9:634-635doi:10.1186/cc3893


Published:	2 November 2005

See related research article http://ccforum.com/content/9/6/R636

Abstract

Cardiac troponins are highly sensitive and specific indicators of myocardial injury. Although the mechanism of this injury is not entirely clear, it carries important prognostic information. Elevated serum levels of cardiac troponins have been described in a wide variety of conditions other than myocardial infarction (MI). The current study is an important first step in trying to determine the exact frequency of MI among critically ill patients with elevated troponin. At present, the rate of MI in these patients is unknown and its implications on outcome and management will have to await future prospective clinical trials.