Effect of hemodialysis, coronary artery disease and diabetes on cardiac troponin T: a prospective survey over one year

High-sensitivity Troponin T in hemodialysis patients: a randomized placebo-controlled sub-study investigating angiotensin-II-blockade, variation over time and associations with clinical outcome

Background

Troponin T (TnT) is a well-known risk factor for negative outcome in hemodialysis (HD) patients, but little is known about variation over time, and the impact of clinical and dialysis specific factors. This study investigated the effect of angiotensin II receptor blockade (ARB), short and long-term variation in TnT and associations with clinical parameters.

Methods

In this analysis based on the SAFIR-cohort (Clinical Trials ID: NCT00791830) 81 HD patients were randomized double-blind for placebo (n = 40) or angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) treatment (n = 41) with irbesartan (150–300 mg) and followed for 12 months with six serial measurements of TnT using a high-sensitivity assay.

Results

Fifty-four patients (67%) completed follow-up. Baseline TnT-medians (min-max) were (placebo/ARB): 45(14–295)/46(10–343) ng/L. ARB-treatment did not significantly affect mean TnT-levels over the 12-month study period. Median week-to-week and one-year TnT-variation (5th–95th-percentile range) using all samples regardless of intervention were: 0(− 14–10) ng/L (week-to-week) and 3(− 40–71) ng/L (12 months). Median TnT-amplitude, capturing the change from the lowest to the highest TnT-value observed during the one-year study period was 38% or 20.5 ng/L. Median ratios with 95% limits of agreement were: 1.00(0.73–1.37); P = 0.92 (1 week/baseline; n = 77) and 1.07(0.52–2.25); P = 0.19 (12 months/baseline; n = 54). Baseline TnT was positively correlated with diabetes, ultrafiltration volume, arterial stiffness, change in intradialytic total peripheral resistance and N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and negatively correlated with hematocrit, residual renal function and change in intradialytic cardiac output. High baseline TnT was associated with a higher risk of admission and cardiovascular (CV) events during follow-up. Increase in TnT over time (ΔTnT = 12-months-baseline) was significantly associated with increase in left ventricular (LV) mass and NT-proBNP and decrease in LV ejection fraction and late intradialytic stroke volume. ΔTnT was not significantly associated with admissions, CV or intradialytic hypotensive events during follow-up. Admissions were significantly more likely with a high (TnT-amplitude> 20.5 ng/L) than a low TnT-amplitude. Peaks in TnT were less frequent in aspirin-treated patients.

Conclusion

ARB-treatment had no significant effect on TnT-levels. Week-to-week variation was generally low, yet over 12 months individual patients had considerable TnT fluctuations. Rise in TnT over time was significantly correlated with markers of cardiac deterioration.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00791830. Date of registration: November 17, 2008. EudraCT no: 2008–001267-11.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s12882-020-02103-1.

Superior predictive value for NTproBNP compared with high sensitivity cTnT in dialysis patients: a pilot prospective observational study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The clinical utility of the new biomarker, high sensitivity cardiac T troponin (hs-cTnT) is still unclear in dialysis patients. Furthermore, the prognostic value of combining N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) and hs-cTnT has not been explored so far. The objective of this pilot study was to determine the utility of hs-cTnT alone versus hs-cTnT in combination with NT-proBNP for predicting death in a stable hemodialysis cohort.

METHODS

A prospective observational pilot study including 98 chronic asymptomatic hemodialysis patients with a follow up period of 24 months was designed. The cut-off values for NT-proBNP and hs-cTnT were calculated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, using mortality as an end-point. Based on the cut-off values, the cohort was divided into four groups. Group 1--NT-proBNP < 14275 pg/ml and hs-cTnT < 69.48 ng/l; group 2--NT-proBNP < 14275 pg/ml and hs-cTnT > 69.48 ng/l; group 3--NT-proBNP > 14275 pg/ml and hs-cTnT < 69.48 ng/l; group 4--NT-proBNP > 14275 pg/ml and hs-cTnT > 69.48 ng/l. Survival for each group was determined using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis.

RESULTS

During the follow-up period 16 patients died. According to the ROC curves analysis, the cut-off point for hs-cTnT and for NT-proBNP were 69.43 ng/l (AUC = 0.618; p = 0.04) and 14275 pg/ml (AUC = 0.722; p = 0.003), respectively. In univariate Cox analysis, both hs-cTnT (HR = 3.34; p = 0.016) and NT-proBNP (HR = 5.94; p = 0.01) were predictors of death. In the multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, only NT-pro-BNP levels above the cut-off value remained an independent predictor of all-cause mortality. The combined elevation of both biomarkers did not improve significantly the prognostic value compared with NT-proBNP alone (HR = 6.15 versus HR =4 .78; p = 0.338).

CONCLUSION

NT-pro-BNP is a strong predictor of overall mortality in asymptomatic hemodialysis patients. The addition of hs-cTnT did not improve the prognostic accuracy compared with NT proBNP alone.

High-Sensitivity Troponin as a Predictor of Cardiac Events and Mortality in the Stable Dialysis Population

BACKGROUND

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) is a biomarker used in diagnosing myocardial injury. The clinical utility and the variation of this biomarker over time remain unclear in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We sought to determine whether hs-cTnT concentrations were predictive of myocardial infarction (MI) and death and to examine hs-cTnT variability over a 1-year period.

METHODS

A total of 393 nonacute HD and PD patients (70% HD and 30% PD) were followed in a prospective observational study for new MI and death.

RESULTS

Median hs-cTnT was 57 ng/L (interquartile range, 36–101 ng/L) with no observed difference between HD and PD patients (P = 0.11). Incremental increases in mortality (P = 0.024) and MI (P = 0.001) were observed with increasing hs-cTnT quartiles. MI incidence increased significantly across quartiles in both HD and PD patients (P = 0.012 and P = 0.025, respectively), whereas mortality increased only in HD patients (P = 0.015). For every increase of 25 ng/L in hs-cTnT, the unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.10 for mortality in the whole group (95% CI, 1.04–1.16, P = 0.001) and 1.16 for MI (95% CI, 1.08–1.23, P &lt; 0.001). Adjusted HR for mortality was 1.07 (95% CI, 1.01–1.15, P = 0.04) and 1.14 for MI (95% CI, 1.06–1.22, P &lt; 0.001). Changes in hs-cTnT from baseline concentrations after 1 year were minimal (55 ng/L vs 53 ng/L, P = 0.22) even in patients who had an MI (P = 0.53).

CONCLUSIONS

hs-cTnT appears to have a useful role in predicting MI and death in the dialysis population. Over a 1-year period concentrations remained stable even in patients who sustained a new cardiac event.

Variation in and prognostic importance of troponin T measured using a high-sensitivity assay in clinically stable haemodialysis patients

Background

A recently introduced high-sensitivity assay can measure troponin T (hsT) at low levels with greater precision than the fourth generation troponin T assay. As most patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF) may have elevated hsT levels, data on biological variability and the impact of haemodialysis are needed for clinical interpretation of results.

Methods

This is a prospective observational cohort study aiming to identify baseline levels of hsT in stable haemodialysis patients in addition to examining variation in levels over time. Cardiovascular (CV) mortality was analysed at 6 months after the baseline hsT measurement. hsT was measured prior to the haemodialysis using the high-sensitivity Roche troponin T assay in 239 prevalent haemodialysis patients. In a subset of 78 patients, repeat measurements were made 1 month later, both before and after haemodialysis.

Results

hsT was above the 99th centile for the normal healthy population (14 ng/mL) in 98% of patients with a median level of 63 ng/L [Interquartile range (IQR) 37–108]. Higher hsT levels were associated with diabetes and left ventricular ejection fraction <50%. hsT was higher in patients who died from CV causes (median 418, IQR 109–776) compared with alive patients (median 59.5, IQR 36–96 P = 0.0027), and this association remained significant after adjustment for other predictors of mortality. In 95% of stable patients, variation in hsT over 1 month was <54%. In three patients with unstable coronary artery disease, hsT varied by >100% and >100 ng/L. Haemodialysis reduced hsT by a median of 24% (IQR 6–22, P = 0.0001).

Conclusions

hsT levels are elevated in almost all patients with ESRF. Variation in hsT over 1 month was <50% in most patients. Greater variation may indicate an acute coronary syndrome or worsening cardiac disease.