Introduction: Cardiac troponin (hs-cTnT) is a sensitive marker of myocardial injury and has been linked to incident dementia. The underlying mechanism of that observation is still unknown. Given that severity of cerebral small vessel disease is a predictor of cognitive decline, we aimed to explore whether there is an association between hs-cTnT and severity of white matter lesions (WML) as a marker of cerebral small vessel disease in patients with ischemic stroke.
Methods: We analyzed consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to Charité-University Hospital, Berlin from 2011 to 2013. Severity of WML was graded on 3T-MRI using the age-related white matter severity score (ARWMS). Patients with hs-cTnT elevation suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were excluded (hs-cTnT > 52 ng/l or dynamic change of hs-cTnT > 50%, ESC guideline). We performed unadjusted and adjusted quantile regression models to assess the association between increased hs-cTnT (dichotomized at the 99th percentile, 14 ng/l) and severity of WML.
Results: A total of 860 patients was analyzed (median age 73 years, 44.8% female, median ARWMS 6). Patients with elevated hs-cTnT had more extensive WML than those without (median ARWMS 8 vs. 5, adjusted beta for 50th percentile 1.12, 95% CI 0.41-1.84). The association between WML and hs-cTnT elevation was strongest in patients with severe WML (adjusted beta 1.77, 95% CI 0.26-3.27 for 80th WML percentile).
Conclusion: Elevated hs-cTnT levels were associated with extent of WML in acute stroke patients. Further studies are needed to assess whether hs-cTnT can be used to identify stroke patients at risk for cognitive decline.
Keywords: Cardiac troponin; Cerebral white matter lesions; Cognitive impairment; Stroke.