troponin test

troponin test A sensitive and specific blood test used to determine whether a heart attack or damage to the heart muscle has occurred. Troponin is a complex of proteins found in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Normally, very low levels of troponin are present in the bloodstream. Heart attack and other forms of damage to heart muscle release a certain subtype of troponin into the bloodstream, where it can be detected in the laboratory as a marker of damage to the heart muscle.