High level of heart attack protein linked to increased risk of death

A protein used to diagnose heart attacks could help predict risk of death, according to new research.

Results from a Southampton-led study suggest a high level of troponin signals a heightened risk of death from any cause.

The research involved over 20,000 patients at University Hospital Southampton (UHS).

Professor Nick Curzen, a Consultant Cardiologist at UHS, led the study. He is also Professor of Interventional Cardiology at the University of Southampton.

The results are published in the journal Heart.

Measuring troponin

Troponin is a protein found in the muscles of the heart. It is released into the bloodstream when the heart muscles become damaged, such as during a heart attack.

High troponin levels are also seen in hospital patients who don’t have specific signs of a heart attack. However, the clinical significance of this has never been clear.

The results of this study suggest that troponin may have a more general role as an indicator of medium-term survival. It focused upon patients in the vast majority of whom there was no suspicion of a heart problem.

Increased risk of death

Researchers tracked the survival of 20,000 UHS patients who had blood tests for any reason between June and August 2017. Their average age was 61 and more than half (53%) were women.

Analysis accounted for age, sex, hospital location and kidney function. It revealed that a high cardiac troponin level was independently associated with a 76% heightened risk of death from any cause.

Significantly, the most common cause of death in this study was cancer, not heart disease.

Persistent link

The researchers went on to do an analysis that excluded deaths that occurred within 30 days to eliminate the impact of short-term mortality and the link between a high level of troponin and a heightened risk of death remained.

Prof Curzen said: “This study suggests the troponin blood test, as distinct from its current role as a test for acute heart attack, may be useful in a much more general way. It could indicate medium-term mortality in all patients, regardless of whether they have a heart problem.

“The especially fascinating finding is that the troponin snapshot was not just associated with death from cardiovascular causes, but also from cancer and other non-cardiovascular conditions.”