Associations between obstructive sleep apnea and cardiac troponin T levels: a meta-analysis

Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is a sensitive indicator of heart damage and an important clinical marker for acute myocardial infarction (MI). The recent development of a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay allows a more accurate diagnosis of serum cTnT level. There appears to be an association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and changes in serum cTnT level. However, existing research shows mixed results. Therefore, this meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between cTnT level and OSA. The Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, PubMed and Science Direct databases were searched without a lower time limit and until April 2020. In order to perform the meta-analysis, the heterogeneity of articles was examined using the I-2 test, and subsequently a random effects model was applied. Data analysis was performed within the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (version 2). Six studies comprising of 1689 cases and 2171 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The odds ratio of cTnT level in patients with OSA is 1.25 (95% confidence interval: 0.97-1.61), indicating that OSA patients have 25% higher odds to develop cTnT level than people without OSA. Our study showed that OSA is associated with higher serum hs-cTnT level compared to individuals with no OSA. Given that elevated cTnT level can indicate cardiovascular disease, these individuals should be prioritized for screening, early detection and swift interventions. Further studies are needed to determine the causality of this association.