Acute Kidney Injury and High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Levels in the Emergency Department

ImportanceThe clinical implications of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) measurements in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) in the emergency department (ED) are largely unknown. ObjectivesTo investigate associations between serum creatinine (SCr) concentrations and hs-cTnT kinetics, as well as the clinical accuracy of hs-cTnT for myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with AKI. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis retrospective cohort study included 15 111 patient visits to 7 EDs in Sweden from December 9, 2010, to August 31, 2017, by patients 18 years or older fulfilling AKI criteria with 2 or more SCr measurements and 1 or more hs-cTnT measurement. Statistical analysis was performed from October 2, 2022, to September 28, 2023. ExposureDynamic change in SCr during the ED visits. Main Outcomes and MeasuresLinear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the log-linear regression of kinetic change in hs-cTnT. Logistic regression models were applied to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for change in hs-cTnT indicating acute myocardial injury (Delta hs-cTnT >20% and elevated hs-cTnT >14 ng/L) in association with change in SCr, and to assess the diagnostic performance of hs-cTnT for MI in patients with chest pain. ResultsThere was a total of 15 211 visits by 13 638 patients (median age, 74 years [IQR, 64-83 years]; 8709 men [57%]), of whom 1174 (8%) had an MI. Overall, 11 353 of patients at 14 037 visits without an MI diagnosis (81%) had myocardial injury, and 4396 patients at 14 037 visits (31%) had acute myocardial injury. The change in hs-cTnT among patients without MI was 1.8-fold higher in the highest vs the lowest change in SCr quartile (64.7% [95% CI, 58.4%-71.5%] vs 36.3% [95% CI, 32.4%-40.7%]; exponentiated beta coefficient, 1.78 [95% CI, 1.62-1.96]). Patients in the former group were twice as likely to have acute myocardial injury (39% [1378 of 3516 visits] vs 23% [817 of 3507 visits]; adjusted OR, 2.32 [95% CI, 2.08-2.59]). Using a 0 hours hs-cTnT cutoff value of 52 ng/L or higher assigned 627 of 2388 patients (26%) with chest pain to a high-risk group in whom the specificity and positive predictive value for MI was low (78.5% [95% CI, 76.7%-80.2&] and 27.6% [95% CI, 24.1%-31.3%], respectively). Conclusions and RelevanceThis cohort study of patients in the ED suggests that dynamic change in SCr among patients with AKI was associated with hs-cTnT concentrations indicative of acute myocardial injury. These observations were accompanied by poor performance of recommended hs-cTnT-based algorithms for MI risk stratification.