OBJECTIVETo observe serum troponin I (TNI) level in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

METHODSix hundreds and twelve HCM patients were analyzed prospectively from January 1990 to November 2007.Ultracardiography were detected for all the patients. The diagnostic criteria of HCM is ventricular wall thickness more than 15 mm. Serum TNI level was measured in 116 patients with HCM. Clinical data including age, gender, history, main symptoms, NYHA grade, coronary angiograph, electrocardiogram and echocardiography were compared between patients with normal and increased TNI levels.

RESULTSIn 116 patients who detected TNI, 62 of them (53.4%) had a degree higher than normal. The median TNI value of all these patients is 0.07 ng/ml (0 - 4.38 ng/ml). Sixty-nine patients (59.5%) had undergone coronary angiography. Only 9 of them (13.0%) could be diagnosised as coronary heart disease. The TNI values of HCM patients with or without coronary heart disease were similar. The factors related to a higher TNI value included maximal depth of ventricule (P < 0.05), significant T inversion (P < 0.01) and chest pain (P < 0.05). Compared to all the 612 patients, the ones who detected serum TNI were likely to have chest pain (45.7% vs. 34.5%, P < 0.01) and significant T inversion (75.9% vs. 30.1%, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONIncreased serum TNI could be seen in half of HCM patients, especially in those patients with chest pain or significant T inversion. It is therefore important to different these patients from patients with acute coronary syndrome.