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. 2019 Dec;40(8):1645-1654.
doi: 10.1007/s00246-019-02199-9. Epub 2019 Sep 5.

Cardiac Troponin T in Healthy Full-Term Infants

Jonna Karlén  1   2 , Mathias Karlsson  3 , Håkan Eliasson  4   5 , Anna-Karin Edstedt Bonamy  6   7 , Cecilia Pegelow Halvorsen  8   6
Affiliations

Cardiac Troponin T in Healthy Full-Term Infants

Jonna Karlén et al. Pediatr Cardiol. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

In this prospective cohort study of healthy full-term infants, we hypothesized that high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) would be elevated in cord blood, compared with adult reference values, and that it would further increase over the first days of age. Cardiac troponin T has been shown to be significantly increased in healthy full-term newborns compared with adult reference values, but there is no established reference range. Most studies of cTnT in newborns have been performed before the introduction of high-sensitivity cTnT (hs-cTnT) assay. We conducted a study including 158 full-term newborns, at Stockholm South General Hospital. High-sensitivity cTnT was analyzed in umbilical cord blood and at 2-5 days of age. Median hs-cTnT (interquartile range) in cord blood was 34(26-44) ng/L; 99th percentile 88 ng/L. Median hs-cTnT at 2-5 days of age was 92(54-158) ng/L; 99th percentile 664 ng/L. We conclude that hs-cTnT is elevated in cord blood in healthy, full-term newborn infants compared with adult reference values, and that it increases significantly during the first days of life. Our findings further underline the need of caution when using hs-cTnT as a measurement of cardiac impact in newborns.

Keywords: Cardiac troponin T; High-sensitivity cTnT; Newborn.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Number of included infants and number of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) samples according to mode of delivery
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of samples of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) according to mode of delivery, with exclusions
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Median (interquartile range) high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) values (ng/L) according to mode of delivery, and difference between first and second blood sample, after exclusion
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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