CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SCREENING CARDIAC TROPONIN SERUM CONCENTRATION AND THE ANKLE-BRACHIAL INDEX AND THE TOE-BRACHIAL INDEX IN PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Objective: Cardiac troponin serum concentration is the fundamental marker of myocardial damage determined in patients with suspected acute cardiovascular events, especially acute coronary syndrome. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is an essential tool in the diagnosis of chronic lower limb ischemia but also a marker of subclinical organ damage in the course of hypertension. The toe-brachial index (TBI) is its supplement. This study aimed to examine the correlation between screening cardiac troponin concentration and ABI and TBI values in patients with and without hypertension. Design and method: The study consisted of a retrospective data analysis from patients hospitalized for planned diagnostics. Exclusion criteria were: 1) acute illness within the last month; 2) left ventricle ejection fraction less than 40%; 3) symptoms of heart failure on physical examination; 4) renal failure. ABI was measured bilaterally by Dopplex® Ability Automatic ABI System (Huntleigh Healthcare Ltd., Cardiff, UK). TBI was measured bilaterally by Dopplex® DMX Digital Doppler (Huntleigh Healthcare Ltd., Cardiff, UK). Correlations were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation test. p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The final analysis included 101 individuals. 65 (64.4%) had hypertension. The mean age was 59.0 ± 16.4 years. People with hypertension had a higher mean age (65.7 ± 13.1 years vs. 46.1 ± 14.3 years; p < 0.001) and were more likely to suffer from diabetes (36.2% vs. 11.1%) and prediabetes (23.2% vs. 2.8%). In hypertensive individuals, a significant negative correlation was found between troponin level and ABI (R=–0.28; p=0.024). In non-hypertensive individuals, the correlation between troponin level and ABI was insignificant (R=–0.19; p=0.28). No significant correlation existed between troponin level and TBI in hypertensive (R=–0.07; p=0.58) or non-hypertensive (R=–0.22; p=0.21) individuals. Conclusions: Screening troponin levels (without the clinical context of a suspected cardiovascular event) were found to correlate significantly with ABI in patients with hypertension but not in those without hypertension. No significant correlation was found between troponin levels and TBI values. Further research is needed to better understand the identified relationships and the factors that determine them.