Study on the predictive value of elevated cardiac troponin I and STAF scores in diagnosis of cardiogenic cerebral infarction / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive value of elevated cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and Score for the Targeting of Atrial Fibrillation (STAF) in the diagnosis of cardiogenic cerebral infarction. Methods Two hundred twenty-three patients with acute ischemic stroke were recruited in the study including 38 patients in cardiogenic cerebral infarction (CCI) group and 185 in non-cardiac cerebral infarction (NCCI) group. Clinical data were collected. Chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to detect serum cTnI concentrations in patients and STAF scores were calculated. The clinical baseline data of the two groups were compared. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the boundary value of cTnI and STAF scores in diagnosing CCI and in analyzing their predictive value. Results In the CCI group, the patients were older with higher frequency in atrial fibrillation and ischemic heart disease. Moreover, the NIHSS scores, the value of cTnI and STAF scores were significantly higher in CCI group than in the NCCI group (P＜0.05). The area under the ROC curve of STAF scores was 0.954, and its 95%CI was between 0.924 and 0.985. The area under the ROC curve of the cTnI value was 0.852, and its 95% CI was between 0.788 and 0.916. The cutoff of STAF scores was 4 points, with a sensitivity of 92.1% and a specificity of 89.2%. The cutoff of cTnI value was 0.0085ng/ml, with a sensitivity of 73.7% and a specificity of 84.9%. Conclusion Serum cTnI value and STAF score have a good predictive value for CCI, and STAF score have a higher value than serum cTnI in predicting the diagnosis of CCI. Clinically, serum cTnI and STAF score may be helpful for etiology classification of acute ischemic stroke.