Sun Y, et al. – In a cohort of 1,072 consecutive patients admitted for acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack who presented within 4.5 hours of last known well (LKW), researchers explored the link between baseline cardiac troponin and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The study sample consisted of patients who had baseline cardiac troponin I (bcTnI) obtained within 72 hours from LKW (n = 525). The median time from LKW to the bcTnI was 3.8 hours, and 113 individuals had an elevated bcTnI. An independent association was found between time to bcTnI assessment and AMI after adjustment for pertinent confounders. When stratified by time, bcTnI evaluated within 4.5 hours had a sensitivity of 25% and a specificity of 83.7% for AMI. On the other hand, bcTnI assessment between 4.5 and 72 hours was related to a sensitivity of 90.9% and a specificity of 74.8%. Findings suggested an association of assessment of bcTnI after 4.5 hours from LKW with greater diagnostic accuracy compared with testing within 4.5 hours.