Elevated troponin-I after percutaneous coronary interventions: incidence and risk factors

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) are often complicated by postprocedural myocardial necrosis as manifested by elevated cardiac markers.

To assess the incidence and risk factors of elevated troponin-I (TnI) after PCI.

We performed a retrospective analysis on 522 PCI cases over a 1-year period at a single center. An elevated postprocedural TnI (>1.0 ng/ml) occurred in 213 patients (40.8%). Overall, glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors were used in 52% of cases. Baseline clinical characteristics were similar between the positive and the negative TnI groups. A univariate analysis revealed that patients with elevated TnI post-PCI had significantly more multivessel (28% vs. 15%, P = .001) and multilesion interventions (44% vs. 27%, P<.0001). The lesions were longer, more often angulated and involving bifurcations, and more complex in the TnI-positive group. Stent use and number of stents was higher in the TnI-positive group, and longer inflation times (>30 s) or higher inflation pressures (>14 atm) were used more often in the TnI-positive group. GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor use was higher in the TnI-positive group (61% vs. 45%, P = .0007). After multivariable analysis, independent predictors of elevated TnI after PCI included multilesion intervention, lesion length, lesion angulation, and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor use.

TnI is elevated in approximately 40% of cases after PCI. TnI is more likely to be elevated after intervention on multiple lesions, angulated or long lesions.