What cardiologists should know about copeptin.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. The risk of death and the benefit from early revascularization are highest within the first hours, and therefore early diagnosis is critical. Biomarkers play a critical role in the early diagnosis of AMI. In fact, an elevation in cardiac troponin (cTn) of at least one measurement above the 99th percentile of a healthy reference population has become a condition sine qua non for the diagnosis of AMI.