Detectable serum troponin I in patients with heart failure of nonmyocardial ischemic origin.

Cardiac troponin I, a specific and sensitive marker of myocardial damage, was detected in the blood of 6 of 26 patients studied in our Heart Failure Clinic. In these patients functional class, ventricular function, and prognosis were significantly worse than in those without detectable troponin I. This study suggests that troponin I may represent the biochemical marker of myocardial damage occurring in severe heart failure.