Growth differentiation factor-15 in the early diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with acute chest pain

BACKGROUND: Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a stress-responsive marker that might aid in the early diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

METHODS: In a prospective, international multicenter study, GDF-15, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured in 646 unselected patients presenting to the emergency department with acute chest pain. The final diagnosis was adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists. The primary prognostic end point was all-cause mortality during a median follow-up of 26 months.

RESULTS: AMI was the adjudicated final diagnosis in 115 patients (18%). GDF-15 concentrations at presentation were significantly higher in AMI patients compared to patients with other diagnoses. The diagnostic accuracy of GDF-15 at presentation for the diagnosis of AMI as quantified by the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was lower (AUC 0.69, 95% CI 0.64-0.74) compared to hs-cTnT (AUC 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98, P < 0.001) and BNP (AUC 0.74, 95% CI 0.69-0.80, P = 0.02). A total of 55 deaths occurred during follow-up. GDF-15 predicted all-cause mortality independently of and more accurately than hs-cTnT [AUC 0.85 (95% CI 0.81-0.90) vs 0.77 (95% CI 0.72-0.83), P = 0.002] and BNP (AUC 0.75, 95% CI 0.68-0.82, P = 0.007). Net reclassification improvement was 0.15 (P = 0.01), and the absolute integrated discrimination improvement was 0.07, yielding a relative integrated discrimination improvement of 0.36 (P = 0.07).

CONCLUSIONS: GDF-15 predicts all-cause mortality in unselected patients with acute chest pain independently of and more accurately than hs-cTnT and BNP. However, GDF-15 does not seem to help in the early diagnosis of AMI.