3 Results
A total of 541 participants were
recruited (334 men; mean age: 71.9±16.2 years).
During the in-hospital stay, 318 patients (59%) disclosed hs-cTnT
elevation above the 99th percentile
(>0.014 µg/L).
Patients with hs-cTnT elevation
were older, more likely to be former smokers, and had a higher
prevalence of history of comorbidities like hypertension, CHD, stroke,
diabetes, heart failure, AF, compared to patients with normal hs-cTnT.
Moreover, they were more likely to be treated with aspirin,
thienopyridines, anticoagulants and statins, and belonged to higher
severity PSI classes than patients with normal hs-cTnT (Table 1).
Patients with hs-cTnT elevation at admission showed a progressive
increase of hs-cTnT during the in-hospital stay, that decreased,
however, at hospital dismission: from 0.032 [0.021-0.061] µg/L to a
maximum of 0.047 [0.026-0.098] µg/L (p value <0.001) that
was reached from 24 to 72 h from hospital admission, to 0.030
[0.016-0.054] µg/L (p value <0.001) at hospital
dismission.
On the contrary, patients without hs-cTnT elevation did not show any
significant change in hs-cTnT level during the in-hospital stay (not
shown).