Table 2.

Potential Advantages and Disadvantages of Systematic Cardiac Troponin Measurement in Patients With COVID-19

Potential Advantages	Potential Disadvantages
Detection of myocardial injury.	Absence of a clear actionable response to such elevations.
Identification of patients at higher risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes that may warrant further evaluation, e.g., those with marked cTn increases and/or large deltas.	Potential unnecessary increased in downstream testing and consultations unless the principles for using cTn measurements are understood.
Improved prognostication as cTn facilitates the detection of patients at risk for arrhythmias, ARDS, and death.	Potential increases in infection exposure if cTn increases lead to downstream testing that exposes health care personnel to COVID-19–positive patients.
Improved resource utilization as those with very low hs-cTn concentrations may require less-intensive care and/or evaluation compared with those with marked increases/deltas in whom more aggressive care, monitoring, and/or evaluation may be needed.	Potential inappropriate use of acute coronary syndrome therapies/strategies in patients unlikely to have atherothrombosis.
Facilitate the understanding of cardiac involvement and myocardial injury phenotypes/stages in patients with COVID-19.
Based on the presence/absence of myocardial injury that portends a higher risk for malignant arrhythmias, inform the use of agents that might have effects on the QTc interval.

ARDS = acute respiratory distress syndrome; other abbreviations as in Table 1.