The prognostic value of serum myoglobin in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: Results from the TIMI 11B and TACTICS-TIMI 18 studies

OBJECTIVES. The goal of this study was to define the prognostic value of serum myoglobin in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (ACS). BACKGROUND. While myoglobin is useful for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI), its role in the early risk-stratification of patients with ACS has not been established. METHODS. Myoglobin, creatine kinase-MB subfraction (CK-MB)and troponin I (cTnI) were measured at randomization in 616 patients from the Thrornbolysis In Myocardial Ischernia/Infarction (TIMI) 11B study and 1,841 patients from the Treat Angina with Aggrastat and Determine Cost of Therapy with an Invasive or Conservative Therapy-Thrombolysis In Myocardial Ischemia/Infarction (TACTICS-TIMI) 18 study. The risks for death and nonfatal MI through six months of follow-up were compared between patients with and without myoglobin elevation (> 110 μg/l) in each study and in a dataset combining all eligible patients from both studies (n = 2,457). RESULTS. In a multivariate model adjusting for baseline characteristics, ST changes and CK-MB and cTnI levels, an elevated baseline myoglobin was associated with increased six-month mortality in TIMI 11B (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.9 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.2 to 7.1]), TACTICS-TIMI 18 (adjusted OR 3.0 [95% CI 1.5 to 5.9]) and the combined dataset (adjusted OR 3.0 [95% CI 1.8 to 5.0]). In contrast, there was no significant association between myoglobin elevation and nonfatal MI (combined dataset adjusted OR 1.55, 95% CI 0.9 to 2.6). In TACTICS-TIMI 18, patients with versus those without myoglobin elevation were more likely to have an occluded culprit artery (28% vs. 10%; p < 0.0001) and visible thrombus (49% vs. 34%; p = 0.006) and less likely to have TIMI 3 flow (53% vs. 68%; p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS. A serum concentration of myoglobin above the MI detection threshold (>110 μg/l) is associated with an increased risk of six-month mortality, independent of baseline clinical characteristics, electrocardiographic changes and elevation in CK-MB and cTnI. These findings suggest that myoglobin may be a useful addition to cardiac biomarker panels for early risk-stratification in ACS.