High-sensitive Cardiac Troponin T and Its Relations to Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Morbidity, and Mortality in Elderly Men

Background: Cardiac troponin is emerging as risk indicator in community-dwelling populations. In this study, we investigated the associations of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) to cardiovascular (CV) disease and outcome in elderly men.

Methods: Cardiac troponin T was measured using a high-sensitive assay in 940 men aged 71 years participating in the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men. We assessed both the cross-sectional associations of cTnT to CV risk factors and morbidities including cancer and the longitudinal associations to outcomes over 10 years of follow-up.

Results: Cardiac troponin T levels were measurable in 872 subjects (92.8%). In the cross-sectional analyses, cTnT was associated to CV risk factors (diabetes, smoking, and obesity), renal dysfunction, CV disease including atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease, and biomarkers of inflammation and left ventricular dysfunction. In the longitudinal analyses, cTnT independently predicted total mortality and CV events including stroke. The standardized adjusted hazard ratio regarding the composite CV end point was 1.5 (95% CI 1.3-1.8), P < .001, for men with prevalent CV disease and 1.2 (95% CI 1.0-1.4), P = .02, for men without. Cardiac troponin T improved discrimination metrics for all outcomes in the total population. This was mainly driven by the prognostic value of cTnT in subjects with prevalent CV disease.

Conclusions: In community-dwelling men, cTnT levels are associated to CV risk factors and morbidities and predict both fatal and nonfatal CV events. The relations to outcome are mainly seen in men with prevalent CV disease indicating that the prognostic value of cTnT in subjects free from CV disease is limited.