Clinical Association between Renal Insufficiency and Positive Troponin I in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Whether renal insufficiency (RI) influences troponin levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is controversial. We attempted to determine whether there is an association between RI and troponin I (TnI) elevation in patients presenting with ACS. METHODS: We studied 764 consecutive patients with ACS admitted to our institution from January 1999 to June 2000. Patients were identified prospectively and data were collected through chart review of all cases with an admission diagnosis of ACS. In order to assess the relationship of TnI and RI, we calculated the creatinine clearance (Cr-Cl) for all patients. We conducted an analysis of variance comparing TnI in quintiles of patients with lowest to highest Cr-Cl. RESULTS: Among 764 patients, 173 patients had a discharge diagnosis of ST elevation myocardial infarction and 591 had non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. There was no correlation between peak TnI levels and renal function as measured by Cr-Cl in the entire cohort with ACS and in the subgroups with ST elevation myocardial infarction and non ST elevation myocardial infarction. CONCLUSIONS: This large cohort study demonstrates that there appears to be no association between RI and positive TnI in patients with ACS.