Release Kinetics of Cardiac Troponin T in Survivors of Confirmed Severe Pulmonary Embolism

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Abstract
Cardiac troponins may be increased in patients with confirmed pulmonary embolism (PE), even in the absence of significant coronary artery disease (CAD), and indicate increased risk for subsequent death ( 1). Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) correlates with the presence and degree of right-ventricular dysfunction ( 1)( 2). In our recent study ( 1), 18 of 56 patients (32%) with PE had significant increases in cTnT. Eight of the nine patients with fatal outcome had increased cTnT. In the present study, we investigated all consecutive survivors of angiographically confirmed acute PE who developed cTnT ≥0.1 μg/L to evaluate cTnT time release in PE and to provide a rationale for an optimal blood-sampling protocol to improve risk stratification.