High-sensitivity troponin (hs-Tn)

High-sensitivity troponin (hs-Tn) is a blood test for heart-muscle injury. It measures the cardiac proteins troponin I (hs-TnI) or troponin T (hs-TnT) in your blood, at levels about 10 times lower than older tests. (It is precise enough to have under 10% measurement variation at its reference cutoff.) That sensitivity lets it catch small troponin leaks. Those happen with a heart attack, myocarditis, takotsubo ('broken heart') syndrome, demand ischemia, and slow chronic heart-cell injury. Beyond ruling out a heart attack in chest pain, a chronically elevated hs-Tn in the general population predicts future heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and death, on top of standard risk factors. That makes it an emerging marker of silent cardiac aging. But always read it in context: non-heart causes (kidney failure, sepsis, pulmonary embolism) can raise troponin too.

Last reviewed: June 22, 2026

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