Troponin predicts mortality in heart failure-related cardiogenic shock

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In patients with cardiogenic shock (CS), predicting risk of mortality may improve treatment allocation beyond intensive care admission and thereby outcomes. Troponin appears to be a suitable biomarker but has primarily been evaluated in the setting of infarct-related CS, not in heart failure-related CS (HF-CS), which accounts for almost 50% of cases. OBJECTIVE(S): To assess the association of Troponin T with shock severity and mortality in HF-CS patients. METHOD(S): Heart failure-related CS patients treated in 15 tertiary care centres (5 European countries, 2016-2021) were retrospectively enrolled (NCT03313687). Association of baseline high-sensitive Troponin T and its 24-h kinetics with shock severity according to the SCAI classification and with in-hospital mortality was assessed by fitting multivariable adjusted regression models. RESULT(S): N = 477 patients (mean age 62 years, 30.2% women). High-sensitive Troponin T at baseline (median 164 ng/l) was significantly associated with in-hospital mortality (HR 1.008, 95%CI 1.002-1.013, p < 0.01). Increasing Troponin within 24 h from baseline indicated a 2.4-fold higher risk of death vs. decreasing Troponin levels (HR 2.439, 95% CI 1.070-5.558, p = 0.03). In addition, higher Troponin T levels correlate with higher SCAI stages (e.g., baseline Troponin T per 250 ng/l increase: OR 5.268, 95%CI: 1.637, 16.953, p < 0.01 for SCAI stage D vs. C). CONCLUSION(S): Troponin T, a marker of myocardial injury, associates with shock severity in patients with heart failure-related CS. It predicts mortality both with its baseline value as well as with its 24-h kinetics. Thus, Troponin may be a suitable marker to guide therapy or clinical trial enrolment in these patients. Copyright © 2025. The Author(s).