Cardiac troponin I is elevated in dogs and cats with azotaemia renal failure and in dogs with non-cardiac systemic disease

Objective To determine if dogs and cats with renal failure, or other severe non‐cardiac disease, and no antemortem evidence of cardiac disease on basic clinical evaluation, have elevated levels of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). Design Cross‐sectional study using 56 dogs and 14 cats with primary non‐cardiac disease (39 dogs with azotaemic renal failure, 14 cats with azotaemic renal failure, 17 dogs with non‐cardiac systemic disease); 7/25 dogs and 6/14 cats had murmurs detected on physical examination. Serum or heparinised plasma was collected and analysed for cTnI. Results Cardiac troponin I concentrations were elevated above reference intervals in 70% of dogs and 70% of cats with azotaemic renal failure and in 70% of dogs with a variety of systemic non‐cardiac diseases. Cardiac troponin I concentrations did not correlate with the degree of azotaemia, presence of murmurs, hypertension or type of non‐cardiac illness. Conclusions Cardiac troponin I concentration is often elevated in dogs and cats with azotaemic renal failure and in dogs with other systemic non‐cardiac illness, suggesting that these conditions often result in clinically inapparent myocardial injury or possibly altered elimination of cTnI.