Critically evaluate the interpretation of plasma troponin measurement in critically ill patients.
Key features
• Troponin I, T and C form a 3 unit complex with tropomyosin in cardiac actin filament, CTnI and cTnT used as cardiac specific markers, small amount in cytoplasm but a large actin pool, slowly released, and slowly degraded with small elevation in renal failure
• Greater sensitivity to cardiac damage than CK-MB which can also be found in skeletal muscle (increased in myopathies), gut, uterus, and IgG complexes CK-MB, rises 4-6 h after onset symptoms for myocardial infarction, useful prognostic marker in acute coronary syndromes (higher level = worse prognosis)
• Elevated level also seen with PE, sepsis, myocarditis, pericarditis, cardiac trauma, drug- induced myocardial injury, cardioversion
This question is almost identical to Question 10 from the second paper of 2011.
To simplify revision and wreck some SEO, the answer for Question 10 is reproduced below.
Rationale for the use of troponin in the critically ill:
Advantages of using troponin in critically ill patients
Advantages of using troponin in acute coronary syndromes
Disadvantages for the use of troponin in critical illness
This article has a nice graph of cardiac biomarker concentrations over time after an infarct:
Wu et al; National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry Standards of Laboratory Practice: Recommendations for the Use of Cardiac Markers in Coronary Artery Diseases. Clinical Chemistry 45:7 1104 –1121 (1999)
There is a CICM fellowship question regarding the critical appraisal of troponin in the ICU population.
The ECS and AHA statement referred to in the college answer is this article published in Circulation in 2007:
(Kristian Thygesen et al; Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction. Circulation 2007, 116:2634-2653
This article from Current Opinion in Critical care (2004) discusses the various causes of raised troponin among ICU patients:
Ammann et al,Troponin as a risk factor for mortality in critically ill patients without acute coronary syndromes. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Volume 41, Issue 11, 4 June 2003, Pages 2004–2009
The fact that troponin rise among the critically ill population is associated with a poorer prognosis is supported by this study:
Gunnewiek et al. Cardiac troponin elevations among critically ill patients. Current Opinion in Critical Care: October 2004 - Volume 10 - Issue 5 - pp 342-346
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Ammann, P., et al. "Elevation of troponin I in sepsis and septic shock." Intensive care medicine 27.6 (2001): 965-969.
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Wens, Stephan CA, et al. "Elevated Plasma Cardiac Troponin T Levels due to Skeletal Muscle Damage in Pompe Disease." Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine (2016): CIRCGENETICS-115.
Sribhen, Kosit, Rewat Phankingthongkum, and Nilrat Wannasilp. "Skeletal muscle disease as noncardiac cause of cardiac troponin T elevation." Journal of the American College of Cardiology 59.14 (2012): 1334-1335.