Key result
Heterophile antibody blocking cuts persistently elevated cTnI by ~74%, confirming a false positive.
Case Report (n=1)
No
Heterophile antibodies can cause falsely elevated cardiac troponin levels, highlighting the need to suspect analytical interference when biomarker levels are discrepant with clinical and imaging findings.
Heterophile interference merits consideration in troponin-imaging discordance; this case leaves open prevalence and standardized testing protocols.
We present the case of a female patient who developed persistently elevated levels of cardiac troponin (cTn) after a previous episode of clinically presumed myocarditis. Extensive investigation concluded that the presence of heterophile antibodies was causing false positive cTn elevation. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.)
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Santos et al. (2020) conducted a case report in Falsely elevated cardiac troponin (n=1). Heterophile antibody blocking reagents vs. Routine assay was evaluated on Reduction in cardiac troponin I levels. In a patient with persistently elevated cardiac troponin I and normal cardiac imaging, treatment of the blood sample with heterophile antibody blocking reagents reduced the troponin result by 74%, confirming a false positive elevation.
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