An ideal marker for cardiac disease would have all of these characteristics:
- It should be specific to myocardial tissue.
- It should have low concentrations in normal (healthy) peripheral blood.
- It should be rapidly released after myocardial injury.
- It should be detected in low quantities, with little interference from other compounds.
- The marker should remain in circulation for a sufficient length of time for detection.
- The plasma concentration of the marker should be directly related to the extent of the injury.
- The test for the biomarker should be easily automated, relatively inexpensive to run, and results should be obtained rapidly.
