Serum levels of cardiac troponin I and troponin T in estimating myocardial infarct size soon after reperfusion

Background Cardiac troponin I (Tnl) and troponin T (TnT) are highly specific myocardial markers. Objective To determine whether their serum levels can be used to estimate myocardial infarct size soon after reperfusion. Methods We measured the serum levels of Tnl, TnT, and creatine kinase every 3 h, and the serum cardiac myosin light chain I (MLCI) every 24 h, in 42 patients with acute myocardial infarction in whom reperfusion therapy had successfully been performed. We calculated the severity of regional hypokmesis by analyzing the follow-up ventriculograms with the centerline method. Results The time from reperfusion to the peak level for Tnl was 6.1 ± 3.5 h, significantly shorter than those for creatine kinase (7.5 ± 4.1 h) and MLCI (55 ± 28 h). The time to peak level for TnT (6.8 ± 4.0 h) differed significantly from that for MLCI but not from that for creatine kinase. There was a significant correlation between the peak levels of Tnl and TnT (r = 0.86). The peak Tnl and TnT levels were correlated well to the peak creatine kinase level (r = 0.67 and 0.69, respectively), total creatine kinase release (r = 0.66 and 0.66), and the peak MLCI level (r = 0.71 and 0.80). We observed excellent correlations between the peak levels of Tnl and TnT, and regional hypokinesis (r = −0.84 and −0.85, respectively). These were comparable to the correlations between regional hypokinesis and the peak creatine kinase level (r = −0.75), total creatine kinase release (r = −0.72), and the peak MLCI level (r = −0.76). Conclusions These results suggest that the peak serum levels of Tnl and TnT in patients with successful reperfusion are accurate and early indices of infarct size.