Background: The diagnostic and prognostic use of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in patients with renal failure has been questioned. Raised serum concentrations of cTnT, with no apparent signs of cardiac damage using conventional methods of detection, have been reported. We aimed to relate circulating concentrations of cTnT to improved renal function following renal transplantation over a one-year period.
Method: Plasma cTnT was analysed from patients with end stage renal disease before and after transplantation and subsequently at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Eight patients had diabetes, 14 had hyperlipidaemia, 8 were smokers and 4 were ex-smokers; all were hypersensitive.
Results: At the time of transplantation, 3 of the 32 patients (9.4%) had plasma cTnT concentrations above 0.1 microg/l. In addition to these three patients, five others showed raised cTnT over the one-year period.
Conclusions: The overall trend in circulating cTnT concentrations did not seem to be affected by improved renal function. However, all of the patients that had raised cTnT concentrations at any stage of the one-year period had explainable pathologies or were exposed to multiple cardiac risk factors.