Elevated donor troponin levels are associated with a lower frequency of allograft vasculopathy.
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.
Miller
Wayne L
WL
Mayo Medical Center, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Edwards
Brooks S
BS
Kremers
Walter K
WK
Kushwaha
Sudhir S
SS
McGregor
Christopher G A
CG
Daly
Richard C
RC
Jaffe
Allan S
AS
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*
D019210:Troponin I; D020107:Troponin T