Troponin elevation as a marker of short deterioration and one-year death in a high-risk surgical patient cohort in a low and middle income country setting: a postoperative approach to increase surveillance

Purpose Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery is common and mostly asymptomatic. The ideal target population that will benefit from routine troponin measurements in low and middle income countries (LMICs) is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the clinical outcomes of a cohort of high-risk surgical patients according to high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) in an LMIC setting. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of 442 high-risk patients undergoing noncardiac surgery at a Brazilian hospital between February 2019 and March 2020. High-sensitivity troponin T levels were measured preoperatively, 24 hr, and 48 hr after surgery and stratified into three groups: normal (< 20 ng·L −1 ); minor elevation (20–65 ng·L −1 ); and major elevation (> 65 ng·L −1 ). We performed survival analysis to determine the association between myocardial injury and one-year mortality. We described medical interventions and evaluated unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission and complications using multivariable models. Results Postoperative myocardial injury occurred in 45% of patients. Overall, 30-day mortality was 8%. Thirty-day and one-year mortality were higher in patients with hsTnT ≥ 20 ng·L −1 . One-year mortality was 18% in the unaltered troponin group vs 31% and 41% for minor and major elevation groups, respectively. Multivariable analysis of one-year survival showed a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22 to 3.09) for the minor elevation group and a HR of 2.73 (95% CI, 1.67 to 4.45) for the troponin > 65 ng·L −1 group. Patients with altered troponin had more unplanned ICU admissions (13% vs 5%) and more complications (78% vs 48%). Conclusion This study supports evidence that hsTnT is an important prognostic marker and a strong predictor of all-cause mortality after surgery. Troponin measurement in high-risk surgical patients could potentially be used as tool to scale-up care in LMIC settings. Study registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04187664); first submitted 5 December 2019.