High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I Enhances Preeclampsia Prediction Beyond Maternal Factors and the sFlt-1/PlGF Ratio.

Background: Preeclampsia shares numerous risk factors with cardiovascular diseases. Here, we aimed to assess the potential utility of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) values during pregnancy in predicting preeclampsia occurrence.
Methods: This study measured hs-cTnI levels in 3721 blood samples of 2245 pregnant women from 4 international, prospective cohorts. Three analytical approaches were used: (1) a cross-sectional analysis of all women using a single blood sample, (2) a longitudinal analysis of hs-cTnI trajectories in women with multiple samples, and (3) analyses of prediction models incorporating hs-cTnI, maternal factors, and the sFlt-1 (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1)/PlGF (placental growth factor) ratio.
Results: Women with hs-cTnI levels in the upper quarter had higher odds ratios for preeclampsia occurrence compared with women with levels in the lower quarter. Associations were driven by preterm preeclampsia (odds ratio, 5.78 [95% CI, 2.73-12.26]) and remained significant when using hs-cTnI as a continuous variable adjusted for confounders. Between-trimester hs-cTnI trajectories were independent of subsequent preeclampsia occurrence. A prediction model incorporating a practical hs-cTnI level of detection cutoff (≥1.9 pg/mL) alongside maternal factors provided comparable performance with the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio. A comprehensive model including sFlt-1/PlGF, maternal factors, and hs-cTnI provided added value (cross-validated area under the receiver operator characteristic, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.73-0.82]) above the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio alone (cross-validated area under the receiver operator characteristic, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.65-0.76]; P =0.027). As assessed by likelihood ratio tests, the addition of hs-cTnI to each prediction model significantly improved the respective prediction model not incorporating hs-cTnI, particularly for preterm preeclampsia. Net reclassification improvement analyses indicated that incorporating hs-cTnI improved risk prediction predominantly by correctly reclassifying women with subsequent preeclampsia occurrence.
Conclusions: These exploratory findings uncover a potential role for hs-cTnI as a complementary biomarker in the prediction of preeclampsia. After validation in prospective studies, hs-cTnI, alongside maternal factors, may either be considered as a substitute for angiogenic biomarkers in health care systems where they are sparce or unavailable, or as an enhancement to established prediction models using angiogenic markers.
Competing Interests: Disclosures sFlt-1 and PlGF in OCC were initially measured in collaboration with BRAHMS GmbH at their facility in Hennigsdorf, Berlin. For this study, BRAHMS had no further involvement in collection or interpretation of data, writing of the report, or decision to submit the article for publication. S.B. has received research funding from Abbott, Abbott Diagnostics, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Siemens, and Thermo Fisher; honoraria for lectures from Abbott, Abbott Diagnostics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Medtronic, Pfizer, Roche, Siemens Diagnostics, Siemens, and Thermo Fisher; and honoraria for advisory board memberships and consulting from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Novartis, Roche, and Thermo Fisher. T.Z. and S.B. are listed as coinventors of an international patent on the use of a computing device to estimate the probability of myocardial infarction (International Publication No. WO2022043229A1). T.Z. is a shareholder in ART.EMIS GmbH Hamburg. The other authors report no conflicts.