High Sensitivity Troponins As Cardiovascular Risk Factor

Cardiovascular events represent an important proportion of the worldwide morbidity and mortality, and thus, an important burden regarding economics and public health. One of the main objectives in medicine is to prevent cardiovascular events, which demands the identification of the population at risk. This has represented a genuine challenge for decades. Although several tables and scales exist to estimate cardiovascular risk, they fail to accurately predict with efficacy all cases of cardiovascular events, in particular in select ethnic populations. In this regard, high sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI) and high sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) have emerged to serve as possible solutions for this scenario. Both are able to predict with fair precision cardiovascular events, so their standardization and use are not far from reality. However, further research is required to define specific cutoff points for various populations in order to avoid the same pitfalls of current more traditional risk factors. The objective of this review is to assess the viability of the evaluation of high sensitivity troponins as cardiovascular risk factors, and their supporting evidence.