Perioperative myocardial injury (PMI) is a common complication following non-cardiac, particularly thoracic, surgery and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Although guidelines recommend cardiac biomarker monitoring to detect PMI, its implementation in routine clinical practice remains limited.

To evaluate the combined use of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) following elective thoracic surgery, and to determine whether NT-proBNP provides incremental prognostic value beyond hs-cTnI alone.

Multicentre observational cohort study.

Conducted between February 2021 and November 2023 in three Spanish tertiary hospitals.

Patients aged ≥45 years scheduled for elective thoracic surgery involving lung resection (pneumonectomy, lobectomy, bilobectomy or segmentectomy) under general anaesthesia. Exclusion criteria included urgent or non-thoracic surgery, active infection or sepsis and a history of severe heart failure (ejection fraction

Combined measurement of hs-cTnI and NT-proBNP at baseline (preoperatively) and at 24 and 48 hours postoperatively.

PMI was defined as hs-cTnI ≥45 ng/L at 24 and/or 48 hours or a ≥20% increase from baseline in patients with elevated preoperative concentrations.

Among 475 patients, PMI occurred in 11.8%. PMI had higher rates of prior stroke (12.5% vs 2.9%; p=0.004), smoking history (85.7% vs 64.0%; p=0.001) and severe renal dysfunction (7.1% vs 0.7%; p=0.001), with similar Revised Cardiac Risk Index distribution. Patients with PMI also had greater postoperative elevations of hs-cTnI and NT-proBNP (p

Combined hs-cTnI and NT-proBNP assessment improves perioperative cardiovascular risk stratification beyond ischaemia.

NCT04749212