Lower diagnostic accuracy of hs-cTnI in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting

BACKGROUND: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and the ESC 0/1h-hs-cTnT-algorithm have worse performance in the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). It is unknown, whether this concern applies also to hs-cTnI, the most widely used analyte worldwide.

METHODS: In an international multicenter diagnostic study, two cardiologists centrally adjudicated the final diagnosis in patients presenting to the emergency department with symptoms suggestive of MI according to the Third Universal Definition of MI. The objective was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of hs-cTnI assays and their performance within the ESC hs-cTnI 0/1h-algorithms in patients with versus without prior CABG. Findings were externally validated in an U.S. multicenter diagnostic study.

RESULTS: A total of 392/5'200 patients (8%) had prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Diagnostic accuracy of hs-cTnI as quantified by the area under the receiver-operating characteristics-curve (AUC) in these patients was high, but lower versus patients without prior CABG (e.g. hs-cTnI-Architect 0.91 versus 0.95; p = 0.016). Sensitivity/specificity of rule-out/in by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 0/1h-hs-cTnI-algorithms remained very high [e.g. hs-cTnI-Architect 100% and 93.5%], but efficacy was lower (52% versus 74%, p < 0.01). External validation (n = 2113) confirmed these findings in 192 patients with prior CABG using hs-cTnI-Atellica, with 52% versus 36% (p < 0.001) remaining in the observe zone.

CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic accuracy of hs-cTnI and efficacy of the ESC 0/1h-hs-cTnI-algorithms are lower in patients with prior CABG, but sensitivity/specificity remain very high.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00470587, number NCT00470587.