Prognostic value of cardiac troponin I assay in hospitalized elderly patients

Background Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) has been poorly studied in elderly inpatients. Aim This study wanted to assess factors influencing the increase in cTnI and its prognostic value in hospitalized elderly patients. Methods 354 elderly (mean age of 84.8 ± 6.9 years) patients consecutively admitted in the Geriatrics Division in Padua were tested for cTnI levels assay during the hospital stay. Number of subsequent patient deaths at 6 months and 2 years were registered. Results Of the 354 patients, 27 (7.6%) died in hospital; their levels were not significantly higher or more frequently positive on cTnI than those of the remainder of the sample. 71 (20.01%) patients died within 6 months of being discharged, and in-hospital positive cTnI levels emerged as a mortality risk factor in this group [unadjusted HR 1.13 (1.04–1.23); p = 0.004]. At 2 years, a total of 174 patients (49.2%) had died, but in-hospital pathological cTnI levels were not a mortality risk factor in this group. Discussion It should be noted that cTnI level was a risk factor for mortality at 6 months but no longer at 2 years after an elderly patient’s hospitalization. This finding may relate to patients’ limited physiological reserves or be driven by the fact that the elderly tend to receive fewer evidence-based treatments, and to be managed more conservatively than younger patients. Conclusions In the multidimensional analysis of older patients, troponin I can be used to stratify patients and assess mortality risk at 6 months, but not at 2 years.