Abstract P090: Utility Of High-sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T For Short-term Cardiovascular Risk Monitoring In The General Population

Background: Cardiac troponins are the cornerstone for the detection of heart attacks. Beyond the acute setting, there is growing evidence that high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) is associated with long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The implications of minute elevations in hs-cTnT on short-term CVD risk in the general population has not been investigated. Methods: We included 12,632 adults (43% men, 25% black, mean age: 57 years) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study who had at least one measurement of hs-cTnT (Roche) across visits 2 (1990-1992), 3 (1996-1998), and 4 (2011-2013) without diagnosed CVD, defined as coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke. We used bootstrapping to generate confidence intervals for the cumulative incidence of CVD and generalized estimating equation log-binomial models to quantify the short-term relative rates of incident CVD. Results: Overall, 3.8% (n=479) had elevated hs-cTnT ≥ 14ng/L at their earliest visit; of whom 65% (n=311) had intermediate or lower predicted 10-year risk by the Pooled Cohort Equation. The cumulative 1-year incidence of CVD among those with hs-cTnT ≥ 14ng/L was 5.7% (95% CI: 4.0%, 7.4%) compared to 1.0% (0.9%, 1.1%) among those with hs-cTnT < 6 ng/L and 1.7% (1.3%, 2.2%) among those with hs-cTnT between 6 to 14 ng/L. Among those with hs-cTnT ≥ 14ng/L, the cumulative incidence of CVD at 2 years was 9.6% (7.3%, 11.8%) and at 3-years was 12.7% (10.0%, 15/3%) (Figure 1A). After accounting for traditional CVD risk factors, hs-cTnT ≥ 14ng/L was associated with 2.9 (2.0, 4.1) times higher incidence of CVD at 1-year compared to 1.9 (1.5, 2.4) times incidence at 3-years (Figure 1B). Conclusions: Middle-aged adults in the general population without CVD who had an elevated hs-cTnT experienced a 5.7% 1-year risk of CVD compared to 1% among those with low hs-cTnT. The relative risk associated with elevations in hs-cTnT was most pronounced within the first year, supporting its use for short-term risk monitoring as part of annual preventive visits.