Worldwide, more than 2 million patients die within 30 days after noncardiac surgery anually. Postoperative ischemic myocardial injury is frequent, however, no consensus exists about its definition. Objective: to develop a term Myocardial Injury after Noncardiac Surgery (MINS) caused by myocardial ischemia, requiring at least, troponin T (TnT) elevation, and with prognostic relevance at 30 days after surgery. Methods: we performed a prospective study including 15,167 patients ³45 years-old undergoing noncardiac surgery, who had fourth-generation TnT measurements during the first 3 postoperative days. We undertook Cox regression analyses with 30-day mortality after surgery as the dependent variable, using different TnT thresholds, clinical features and several perioperative variables. Non-ischemic etiologies were excluded. Furthermore, we developed a scoring system to predict risk in MINS patients. Results: MINS was defined as TnT ≥0.03 ng/mL with or without clinical features, and it was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality (adjusted HR 3.82, CI 95% 2.84-5.10). We determined that MINS incidence was 8%, its population attributable risk 33.7%, and 30-days mortality rate 9.6%. Patients did not experience ischemic symptoms in 84% of MINS cases. Additionally, we developed a scoring system in patients suffering MINS with 3 independent predictors of death (age ≥75 years, new ST elevation or left bundle branch block, and anterior location of ECG changes), Conclusion: Among patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, we defined MINS based on a TnT threshold ≥0.03 ng/mL. Mostly, MINS patients were asymptomatic. Therefore, this strongly suggests the importance of a troponin monitoring during the first few days after surgery.

Master of Health Sciences (MSc)