Cardiac troponin T reference interval of healthy Nigerian children aged 5–17 years

Background: Cardiac troponin T (cTnT), a biomarker for myocardial injury, reference values is unknown in Nigeria. The establishment and use of pediatric cTnT normative values may be better than the use of adult-derived cTnT values. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine cTnT reference interval among healthy Nigerian children. Methods: One hundred and thirty-two healthy children aged 5–17 years were consecutively recruited over a 9-month period after meeting the inclusion criteria. Blood was taken and the sera analyzed for cTnT by the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay method using high-sensitive assay. Data were analyzed using RefVal software and SPSS version 23.0. Results: The male: female ratio was 1.03:1 with median (interquartile range) serum cTnT of 5.1 (5.0–5.1) ng/L. The reference interval has a lower reference limit (2.5th percentile) of 5.0 (5.0–5.0) ng/L and upper reference limit (97.5th percentile) of 6.8 (5.7–7.2) ng/L. The 99th percentile of cTnT was 7.2 ng/L. Serum cTnT had weak association with age (rs[130] = 0.19, P = 0.033) but no significant relationship with body mass index-for-age-and-sex, sex and social class. Conclusion: This cTnT reference interval can be beneficial in low-middle-income settings who lack indigenous reference intervals. We recommend its use for the identification of myocardial injury among children instead of adult intervals to prevent under-treatment. Stakeholders are encouraged to make cTnT affordable to the less privileged.