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The paper analyzes the most important clinical studies dealing with the measurement of procalcitonin concentrations in patients with lower respiratory tract infections or sepsis. Procalcitonin is a marker of bacterial infection, which is successfully used for diagnosis and antimicrobial therapy monitoring in patients with pneumonia or in septic states. The review presents the latest algorithms for interpreting the concentrations of procalcitonin in clinical practice.

We have reviewed here studies of measurement of small concentrations of troponin in patients with myocardial infarction conducted in 2010-2011 which were most significant for the clinic. Troponin is a most specific and sensitive cardiomarker appearance of which in blood serum evidence for a necrotic process in cardiac muscle. We discuss the problem of interpretation of small troponin concentrations by clinicians as well as the states in which appearance of the cardiomarker in blood serum has noncardiac origin. We also discuss novel possibilities of application of troponin as a prognostic marker in patients with stable or unstable angina after revascularization procedures.