Sex Differences in Cardiac Troponin I and T and the Prediction of Cardiovascular Events in the General Population.
Kimenai, Dorien M;
Shah, Anoop SV;
McAllister, David A;
Lee, Kuan Ken;
Tsanas, Athanasios;
Meex, Steven JR;
Porteous, David J;
Hayward, Caroline;
Campbell, Archie;
Sattar, Naveed;
+2 more...Mills, Nicholas L;
Welsh, Paul;
(2021)
Sex Differences in Cardiac Troponin I and T and the Prediction of Cardiovascular Events in the General Population.
Clinical chemistry, 67 (10).
pp. 1351-1360.
ISSN 0009-9147
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/hvab109
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BACKGROUND: Cardiac troponin concentrations differ in women and men, but how this influences risk prediction and whether a sex-specific approach is required is unclear. We evaluated whether sex influences the predictive ability of cardiac troponin I and T for cardiovascular events in the general population. METHODS: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) I and T were measured in the Generation Scotland Scottish Family Health Study of randomly selected volunteers drawn from the general population between 2006 and 2011. Cox-regression models evaluated associations between hs-cTnI and hs-cTnT and the primary outcome of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. RESULTS: In 19 501 (58% women, mean age 47 years) participants, the primary outcome occurred in 2.7% (306/11 375) of women and 5.1% (411/8126) of men during the median follow-up period of 7.9 (IQR, 7.1-9.2) years. Cardiac troponin I and T concentrations were lower in women than men (P < 0.001 for both), and both were more strongly associated with cardiovascular events in women than men. For example, at a hs-cTnI concentration of 10 ng/L, the hazard ratio relative to the limit of blank was 9.7 (95% CI 7.6-12.4) and 5.6 (95% CI 4.7-6.6) for women and men, respectively. The hazard ratio for hs-cTnT at a concentration of 10 ng/L relative to the limit of blank was 3.7 (95% CI 3.1-4.3) and 2.2 (95% CI 2.0-2.5) for women and men, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac troponin concentrations differ in women and men and are stronger predictors of cardiovascular events in women. Sex-specific approaches are required to provide equivalent risk prediction.