Cardiac troponin T determination by a highly sensi

Authors: Lucas GonzálezHerrera Aurora Valenzuela Valentín Ramos Antonia Blázquez Enrique Villanueva

Publish Date: 2016/03/08

Volume: 12, Issue: 2, Pages: 181-188

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to test for the first time a highly sensitive cardiac troponin T cTnThs assay in postmortem serum and pericardial fluid and to evaluate cardiac troponin T cTnT levels and their stability after death at different postmortem intervals in an attempt to determine the viability of the cTnThs assay in the postmortem diagnosis of the cause of deathcTnT levels were determined in serum and pericardial fluid samples taken from 58 cadavers at known postmortem intervals whose causes of death were categorized into the following groups 1 sudden cardiac deaths 2 multiple trauma 3 mechanical asphyxia and 4 other natural deaths cTnT was determined by inmunoassay using the Troponin T highly sensitive STAT assay Roche®Average cTnT levels measured by a highly sensitive assay in postmortem serum were markedly higher than clinical serum levels Moreover similar results higher cTnT levels in postmortem pericardial fluid were obtained when compared to levels found in pericardial fluid taken from two living patients during coronary artery bypass surgery cTnT levels in both postmortem fluids remained stable for up to 34 h after death No differences in cTnT levels in either postmortem fluid by sex and age were detected Levels of cTnT found in pericardial fluid in the other natural deaths group were significantly lower than the cTnT levels found in that postmortem fluid from any of the other causes of death groupsThe authors gratefully acknowledge Amanda Rocío González Ramírez for assistance with statistical studies We also thank Richard Gautier for the English language revision of the manuscript The authors acknowledge the funding from CEIFA Centro para la Excelencia Forense en Andalucía

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