Troponin I Elevation Due to Alcoholism in Absence of Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Case Report

Abstract

Cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a sensitive and specific marker for myocardial injury, has been utilized for the diagnosis of an acute myocardial infarction. However, a variety of clinical scenarios without evidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), such as pulmonary embolism, sepsis, renal failure or stress-induced cardiomyopathy may also cause the elevation of cTnI. We described a 55-year-old Hispanic male with abnormal elevations of cTnI without objective evidence of myocardial infarction damage. We hypothesized that his long-term chronic alcoholic intoxication is causing the myocardial injury, responsive for cTnI elevation. We proposed that alcohol-induced early myocardial damage, independent of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, might be related to alcohol-induced cTnI elevation in this patient. This is the first report suggesting that the abnormal elevations of cTnI can be seen in patients with chronic alcoholism without objective evidence of myocardial infarction.




J Med Cases. 2014;5(10):545-548
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc1895w