Addition of Highly Sensitive Troponin T and N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide to Electrocardiography for Detection of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent, modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, current screening strategies are limited. In 2478 participants without clinical disease from the Dallas Heart Study, we evaluated a multimarker screening strategy that complements electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria for LVH with 2 biomarkers, amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and highly sensitive cardiac troponin T. An integer LVH risk score from 0 to 3 was determined as the sum of the following: (1) LVH by Sokolow-Lyon ECG; (2) amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in the highest sex-specific quartile; and (3) detectable cardiac troponin T. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging-determined LVH served as the primary outcome. The probability of LVH increased from 2% with an LVH risk score of 0 to 50% with a score of 3 (P<0.001). Sokolow-Lyon ECG afforded low sensitivity (26% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 17-32%]) and high specificity (96% [95% CI, 95-97%]), whereas a risk score ≥2 offered higher sensitivity (44% [95% CI, 34-51%]) with good specificity (90% [95% CI, 89-93%]) and a score threshold of 1 offered reasonable sensitivity (76% [95% CI, 67-83%]) with lower specificity (55% [95% CI, 53-61%]) and high negative predictive value (98% [95% CI, 97-98%]). Area under the receiver operator characteristic curve improved from 0.760 (95% CI, 0.716-0.804) for ECG alone to 0.798 (95% CI, 0.754-0.842) for the LVH risk score (P=0.0012), consistent with modest improvement in overall discrimination. Better screening for LVH may be achieved by combining simple tests, which collectively provide additional information compared with ECG alone. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of a multimarker screening strategy.