Serial measure of cardiac troponin T levels for prediction of clinical events in decompensated heart failure

This study determined whether serial determinations of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in decompensated heart failure (HF) are predictive of clinical events (death, need for readmission for new episode of HF decompensation, or both) during 1 year of follow-up. Sixty-two patients with decompensated HF were enrolled in this cohort. The first measurement of cTnT (cTnT1) was from a blood sample drawn within 4 days of hospital admission; the second measurement (cTnT2) was on blood obtained 7 days later. Forty-nine clinical events (16 deaths, 10 readmissions, 23 combined readmission and deaths) occurred during the follow-up. The independent predictors of clinical events were: cTnT1 > .020 ng/mL ( P .020 ng/mL ( P