Cardiac troponin elevations in chronic renal failure: prevalence and clinical significance.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was investigate the prevalence of abnormal values of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and their clinical significance.


METHODS
We investigated the concentrations of cTnT and cTnI in 49 CRF patients without heart disease or diabetes. Cardiac TnT values were measured with a second generation immunoassay and cTnI with two immunoassays with different analytical sensitivity. All CRF patients underwent regular clinical follow-up over a 18-month period.


RESULTS
No patients with CRF had elevated values of cTnI when measured with one assay and only 2 patients displayed minimally elevated values with the second assay. In contrast, 23 CRF patients (47%) displayed cTnT concentrations elevated above the upper reference limit. The elevated cTnT values observed were below the values detected in acute myocardial infarction and were not associated with adverse cardiac events during follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Mildly elevated cTnT concentrations are common in patients with CRF and do not appear to be associated with adverse coronary events.
Musso
P
P
Department of Cardiology, Ospedale Civile, Ivrea, Italy. mussop@ivrea.alpcom.it
Cox
I
I
Vidano
E
E
Zambon
D
D
Panteghini
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019210:Troponin I / Q000097:blood*; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
D015415:Biomarkers; D009211:Myoglobin; D019210:Troponin I; D020107:Troponin T; D003402:Creatine Kinase