Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2026 Jul 30. doi: 10.1038/s44161-026-00837-z. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Coronary artery disease often develops silently before myocardial infarction, and current risk-based prevention pathways miss some individuals with clinically important disease, particularly those without standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I is a blood biomarker of low-level myocardial injury, but its relationship to silent coronary atherosclerosis remains incompletely understood. Here we show, in 1,613 adults undergoing coronary computed tomography (CT) imaging, that low-level high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I is associated with clinically actionable coronary disease, defined by coronary calcium score ≥100, and with quantitative CT markers of plaque burden. A threshold of 2.3 ng l-1 enriched for actionable disease, especially in individuals without standard risk factors. Normalizing troponin for myocardial mass, age and renal function improved prediction and provided mechanistic insight into baseline troponin elevation in chronic coronary syndromes. A two-stage strategy using troponin before CT imaging increased diagnostic yield and reduced the number of scans required. Prospective validation is warranted before clinical implementation.
PMID:42533034 | DOI:10.1038/s44161-026-00837-z