International heart journal
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Individuals with intermediate to high cardiac risk for major noncardiac surgery suffer from perioperative myocardial ischemic injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of postoperative cardiac troponin elevation on clinical outcome after major noncardiac surgery. Patients (n = 750) aged ≥ 50 years who underwent major noncardiac surgery were eligible for the study. ⋯ However, these differences disappeared after 6 months. An elevated troponin-I level conferred an increase in mortality during the 7 year follow-up period after major noncardiac surgery. This difference in mortality was mainly derived from the result within the first 6 months.