Background: Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is an important inflammatory cytokine; its presence has been documented in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, its role as a predictor of death or heart failure is unclear. We sought to investigate this and compared it with N terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a marker of death or heart failure.
Methods and results: We studied 291 post-AMI patients. The plasma concentration of CT-1 and NT-proBNP was determined using in-house noncompetitive immunoassays and patients followed for death or heart failure. There were 27 deaths and 19 readmissions with heart failure. CT-1 was raised in patients with death or heart failure compared with survivors (median [range] fmol/mL, 0.9 [0.1-392.2] vs. 0.67 [0-453.3], P = .019). Using a multivariate binary logistic model CT-1 (OR 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-3.2, P = .031) and NT-proBNP (OR 2.4, 95% CI: 1.1-5.2, P = .026) predicted death or heart failure independently of age, sex, previous AMI, serum creatinine, and Killip class. The receiver-operating curve for CT-1 yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.53-0.70, P = .017); for NT-proBNP the AUC was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.69-0.86, P < .001); the logistic model combining the 2 markers yielded an AUC of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.78-0.91, P < .001).
Conclusion: After an AMI, combined levels of CT-1 and NT-proBNP are more informative at predicting death or heart failure than either marker alone.