title: Elevated donor troponin levels are associated with a lower frequency of allograft vasculopathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is considered a major cause of morbidity and mortality in transplant recipients and may reflect immune-mediated endothelial injury in response to the donor heart. Elevated troponin levels in the donor serum might provide a marker for this phenomenon; therefore, we evaluated the relationship of donor troponin levels to the development of CAV.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of troponin levels was undertaken from cardiac donor patients, and transplant recipients were monitored for the development of vasculopathy by angiography (N = 171).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Angiographically significant CAV developed in 6% of transplantation patients and troponin levels were inversely related to the severity of CAV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated donor troponin levels are not associated with the development of CAV but rather with a significantly reduced long-term risk of developing CAV, suggesting a possible protective effect of donor released protein.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Medical Center, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Wayne L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Brooks S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Walter K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kremers
authors.forename: Sudhir S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kushwaha
authors.forename: Christopher G A
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: McGregor
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Allan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Jaffe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors; D019210:Troponin I / Q000097:blood*; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D019210:Troponin I; D020107:Troponin T