Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2019 May 22;12(5):e229217.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2019-229217.

False-positive troponin I elevation in a newborn with neonatal encephalopathy

Elisabetta Caredda  1 , Roberto Rosso  2 , Carlo Capristo  1 , Paolo Montaldo  1   3
Affiliations
Case Reports

False-positive troponin I elevation in a newborn with neonatal encephalopathy

Elisabetta Caredda et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Serum biomarkers of myocardial damage are commonly used in babies after perinatal asphyxia. We present a case report of a persistently troponin I elevation without evidence of clinical or instrumental signs of myocardial ischaemia in a baby with perinatal asphyxia. When the blood was mixed with polyethylene glycol we found that the troponin I levels were falsely elevated due to interfering antibodies. This case shows that analytical errors may still occur despite modern immunoassay systems and underlines the need for further investigations to identify false-positive values in case of disagreement between clinical conditions and laboratory values.

Keywords: ischaemic heart disease; neonatal intensive care; neurological injury.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

References

    1. Natarajan G, Laptook A, Shankaran S. Therapeutic hypothermia: How can we optimize this therapy to further improve outcomes? Clin Perinatol 2018;45:241–55. 10.1016/j.clp.2018.01.010 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lippi G, Aloe R, Meschi T, et al. . Interference from heterophilic antibodies in troponin testing. Case report and systematic review of the literature. Clinica Chimica Acta 2013;426:79–84. 10.1016/j.cca.2013.09.004 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Makaryus AN, Makaryus MN, Hassid B. Falsely elevated cardiac troponin I levels. Clin Cardiol 2007;30:92–4. 10.1002/clc.20006 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lefort G, D’Antonio C, Caffery T. A non-ischaemic cause of elevated troponin. Case Rep Child Meml Hosp Chic 2014;2014:bcr2014203729 10.1136/bcr-2014-203729 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Montaldo P, Rosso R, Chello G, et al. . Cardiac troponin I concentrations as a marker of neurodevelopmental outcome at 18 months in newborns with perinatal asphyxia. Journal of Perinatology 2014;34:292–5. 10.1038/jp.2014.1 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types