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[Serum troponin T in patients with chronic Chagas disease]
Ana L Basquiera1, Ricardo Capra, Mirtha Omelianiuk
1Hospital Privado Centro Médico de Córdoba. Córdoba. Argentina. anabasquiera@arnet.com.ar
Insights
High-sensitivity troponin T assays did not detect early myocardial damage in chronic Chagas disease patients. Troponin T levels were not associated with cardiac lesions in this early-stage cohort.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Biomarkers
Context:
- High serum troponin T (TnT) levels are established markers of myocardial damage in nonischemic cardiomyopathies.
- Chagas disease can lead to chronic cardiomyopathy, but early detection of myocardial damage remains challenging.
Purpose:
- To evaluate if a highly sensitive troponin T assay can identify early-stage myocardial damage in patients with chronic Chagas disease.
Summary:
- Thirty-nine outpatients with serologic diagnosis of Chagas disease were assessed. Patients were categorized based on cardiac involvement: no lesions (15), electrocardiographic changes only (15), and echocardiographic alterations (9).
- Highly sensitive troponin T (hs-TnT) levels were measured. Only one patient (11.11%) in the echocardiographic alteration group had a positive TnT result, coinciding with the lowest ejection fraction (29%) and largest left ventricular diastolic diameter (77 mm).
Impact:
- The study suggests that highly sensitive troponin T assays are not associated with early myocardial damage in chronic Chagas disease.
- Further research may be needed to identify reliable biomarkers for early detection of Chagas cardiomyopathy.
Abstract:
High serum levels of T troponin (TnT) have been described in patients with nonischemic myocardiopathies as markers of myocardial damage. We aimed to determine whether a highly sensitive TnT assay could identify patients with early stage chronic Chagas disease cardiopathy. We studied 39 outpatients with a serologic diagnosis of Chagas disease by clinical examination, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. Among all patients, 15 had no cardiac lesions, 15 showed only typical electrocardiographic changes, and nine had echocardiographic alterations. All TnT determinations were negative except in one patient in the latter group (1 out of 9; 11.11%). This patient had the lowest ejection fraction (29%) and had a left ventricular diastolic diameter of 77 mm. Thus, in the present study troponin T levels were not associated with early signs of myocardial damage in Chagas disease.
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