High-Sensitive Cardiac Troponin T in Elderly Men
High-Sensitive Cardiac Troponin T in Elderly Men
Because the design of the ULSAM study, our results are standardized for white men aged 71 years at the time of blood sampling. We are, therefore, reluctant to draw conclusions to women or other ethnic groups and are unable to study the importance of age on the implications cTnT levels. We lack echocardiographic data and can, thus, not provide mechanistic explanations on the associations between cTnT, cardiac abnormalities, and outcome. We do not have detailed information on the type of stroke occurring during follow-up, that is, ischemic or hemorrhagic. Cardiac troponin T was analyzed in samples that had been frozen for >10 years. Although being reported as a stable analyte, late degradation of cTnT may occur after several years of storage. Nevertheless, this would probably have affected cTnT levels in a unidirectional way without influencing its relative associations to the measures investigated in this study.
Limitations
Because the design of the ULSAM study, our results are standardized for white men aged 71 years at the time of blood sampling. We are, therefore, reluctant to draw conclusions to women or other ethnic groups and are unable to study the importance of age on the implications cTnT levels. We lack echocardiographic data and can, thus, not provide mechanistic explanations on the associations between cTnT, cardiac abnormalities, and outcome. We do not have detailed information on the type of stroke occurring during follow-up, that is, ischemic or hemorrhagic. Cardiac troponin T was analyzed in samples that had been frozen for >10 years. Although being reported as a stable analyte, late degradation of cTnT may occur after several years of storage. Nevertheless, this would probably have affected cTnT levels in a unidirectional way without influencing its relative associations to the measures investigated in this study.