High-sensitive cardiac troponin T as a novel predictor for recurrence of atrial fibrillation after radiofrequency catheter ablation

We aimed to determine whether elevated serum high-sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-TnT) levels predict atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).

We included 125 consecutive patients with AF (paroxysmal, n = 79; persistent, n = 46) who underwent first-time PVI. Serum hs-TnT, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), atrial natriuretic peptide, and plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels were measured in venous samples collected before PVI. Elevated hs-TnT was diagnosed in patients with levels ≥0.014 μg/L. All patients underwent multidetector computed tomographic examinations before PVI to measure left atrial volume (LAV) and left ventricular (LV) mass, which were indexed to body surface area. Arrhythmia recurrence was defined as AF/atrial tachycardia episodes lasting for ≥30 s after a 2-month blanking period from the PVI procedure. Elevated hs-TnT levels were observed in 22 (17.6%) patients. Age, diabetes mellitus, LV mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and hs-CRP were independently associated with serum hs-TnT levels (all P < 0.05). During a mean follow-up of 12.9 ± 8.5 months after a single PVI procedure, the clinical recurrence rate was 33% (n = 41). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that a greater LAV index (P = 0.01) and elevated serum hs-TnT level (P = 0.01) were significant predictors of AF recurrence after PVI.

This study demonstrated that elevated serum hs-TnT levels are associated with AF recurrence independent of traditional risk factors and left atrial enlargement.