Deadly Heart Attack Protein Troponin Tied to Death Risk-Includes Both Cardiac & Non-Cardiac

Increased levels of troponin, a protein commonly used to rule out heart attacks in chest pain patients, could indicate an increased likelihood of death from any cause in the next few years, regardless of the presence of known or suspected cardiovascular disease (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Association between troponin level and medium-term mortality in 20 000 hospital patients

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Evaluation Of High Cardiac Troponin Levels in Hospital Patients Without Heart Attack Symptoms

High cardiac troponin levels are often seen in hospital patients who don't have specific signs of a heart attack, but the clinical significance of this has never been clear, said the researchers from the University of Southampton, UK. To explore this further, the team tracked the survival of 20,000 hospital patients who had had a troponin blood test for any reason, regardless of the original clinical indication.

In fact, the most common cause of death was cancer (46 percent), followed by cardiovascular disease (13 percent). After excluding deaths that occurred within 30 days, a parameter used to define the likelihood that this was associated with the reason for their hospital stay, the link between cardiac troponin and heightened risk of death persisted.

This indicates that this association wasn't driven purely by a short term risk of death, highlighted the researchers. This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn, the researchers said. They also acknowledged several limitations such as the study was carried out at one hospital.

However, it seems biologically implausible that cardiac troponin level itself poses a heightened risk of death, and more likely that it represents a broad spectrum of health issues, including those as yet undiagnosed, which increase the risk, the researchers noted.

"Further research is required to confirm these findings across multiple settings and to evaluate whether any intervention can adjust the increased risk demonstrated," they add.

Reference:

1. Association between troponin level and medium-term mortality in 20 000 hospital patients - (https://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2023/07/03/heartjnl-2023-322463)

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