Correlation between lipid profile and troponin I test results in patients with chest pain in Nepal

OBJECTIVE: To study the usefulness of traditional lipid profile levels in screening subjects who had developed chest pain due to cardiac event as indicated by a positive troponin I test. METHODS: In this retrospective study data of the 430 patients presented to the emergency department with symptoms of cardiac ischemia who underwent both troponin and lipid profiles tests were compared with the lipid profiles of 165 normal healthy subjects (controls). The troponin was detected qualitatively when a specimen contains troponin I (cTnI) above the 99th percentile (TnI>0.5 ng/mL). The total cholesterol, high density lipoproteins cholesterol, very low density lipoproteins and triacyl glycerol levels were also analyzed and low density lipoprotein level was calculated using Friedewald's formula. RESULTS: Patients with chest pain and positive troponin test (with confirmed cardiac event) were found to have significantly elevated levels of total cholesterol, triacyl glycerol levels, low density lipoprotein level and significantly reduced high density lipoproteins cholesterol levels when compared to the patients who experienced only chest pain (negative troponin) and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional lipid profile levels is still can be used in screening populations to identify the subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event in case if the laboratory set up has not troponin test facilities.