The heart of the matter: A link between troponin and dementia?

摘要

The term 'cardiogenic dementia' was first introduced in the Lancet some 25 years ago and was used to describe reduced cognitive function in the presence of cardiac failure.1 Schneider and colleagues now present novel data on the association of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and cognitive function. High-sensitivity cTnT (hs-cTnT) assays were used to detect even minor elevations indicating subclinical myocar-dial damage.2 The authors evaluated serum samples available from 9472 individuals (mean age 63 years) of the 'Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC)' population cohort without coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, or stroke at baseline. Strikingly, as many as two-thirds of all participants had hs-cTNT levels above the lower limit of detection (>3 ng/L) while only 7% reached the higher pre-defined concentration (> 14 ng/L).