It is estimated that \> 200 million patients in the world undergo surgery each year of which approximately 10 million will suffer from a myocardial injury in the perioperative period. Mortality is high in patients with myocardial injury since it often goes undiagnosed and management is unclear. In contrast to myocardial infarction diagnosed in the emergency room (non-surgical patient) where treatment is well established today, patients suffering from a perioperative myocardial injury have a poorer outcome. Additionally, the patho-physiology of myocardial injury is unknown in the individual patient, non-invasive diagnostic tools are not widely available and treatment remains unknown. Most cases of myocardial injury in Non-cardiac surgery (MINS) are seen within the first 48-72 h after surgery and a majority have no symptoms. Many patients developing MINS are \< 65 years old and non-diabetics, an age group that usually does not have coronary artery disease. A elevated Troponin T (TnT) without symptoms or ECG changes, typically occurring in the perioperative period, is an independent predictor of 30-day mortality. Surgical trauma also causes an increase in several pro-inflammatory cytokines, which together with sympathetic over-activity and platelet activation, leads to a hyper-coagulant state, and in turn may cause coronary thrombosis. It is possible that some cases of MINS also result from oxygen supply-delivery mismatch. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the cause of MINS in patients presenting with increased TnT in the perioperative period. Our aim is therefore to investigate patients having MINS in order to better understand its aetiology and subsequently develop focused strategies to reduce risks.
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Myocardial injury as seen by cMRI
Timeframe: < 3 days after rise in Troponin T