Elevated cardiac troponin I and short-term mortality in patients with acute type A aortic dissection

Aims: To explore the association between elevated cardiac troponin I (cTnI) on 30-day mortality in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD).

Methods and results: A total of 1321 consecutive patients who were admitted to the emergency department of Fuwai Hospital from January 2016 to December 2020 were enrolled. Patients had computed tomography-confirmed ATAAD and were measured serum cTnI on admission. Patients were divided into the troponin-positive (cTnI > 0.02 ng/mL) or the troponin-negative group (cTnI ≤ 0.02 ng/mL). Troponin was detected by PATHFAST instrument produced by Medins Co., Ltd., and the reference range of normal value is 0-0.02 ng/mL. A total of 522 out of 1321 patients (39.5%) in our study had elevated cTnI, who had higher 30-day mortality rate compared with the troponin-negative group (44.4% vs. 19.4% P < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression results showed that elevated cTnI was an independent risk indicator for 30-day mortality (odds ratio: 2.582; 95% confidence interval: 1.357-4.914; P = 0.0039). The addition of elevated cTnI level to a clinical-based risk prediction model resulted in significant incremental prognostic value (AUC difference: 0.0261).

Conclusion: Elevated cTnI is common in patients with ATAAD, and is associated with increased 30-day mortality risk.