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In two new studies, researchers investigated whether a highly sensitive cardiac troponin-T assay predicted adverse cardiac outcomes in community-based cohorts; the assay has a limit of detection substantially lower than that of conventional assays.
In the national Cardiovascular Health Study, 4221 people (age, ≥65) without incident heart failure (HF) underwent troponin-T testing at baseline, and most had repeat determinations 2 to 3 years later. Troponin T was detectable in 66.2% of participants and, during a median follow-up of almost 12 years, predicted both incident HF and cardiovascular death. The improvement over conventional assays in prediction was modest, however, after adjustment for clinical risk factors. Increasing levels of tropo…