Cardiac Troponin T (cTnT) in Hemodialysis Patients with Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular mortality is higher in hemodialysis (HD) patients than in the general population. Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is established as a sensitive marker of myocardial injury in the general population. Less is known about the association between cTnT and intima-media thickness (IMT) and presence of plaques in carotid arteries (asymptomatic atherosclerosis) and prognostic value of cTnT for cardiovascular mortality (symptomatic atherosclerosis) in HD patients. In our study 90 HD patients (mean age 56.2 ± 13.3 years) were followed after determination of cTnT level. Outcome after 21 months was chosen as the end point. In 52 randomly selected HD patients, IMT was measured with B-mode ultrasonography. Plaque occurrence and their numbers were also determined. In 24 (26.6%) patients, cTnT values were >0.1 μg/L (positive test for myocardial injury). During follow-up, 13 patients died from cardiovascular causes and their cTnT values were significantly higher (0.12 vs. 0.06 μg/L; p