Malignant link between chronic heart failure and acute cardiac decompensation in patients with persistently increased serum concentrations of cardiac troponin.

During the progression of heart failure (HF), phases of chronic compensation and acute decompensation alternate and the clinical status worsens during the acute phase. At the present time, few studies have focused their attention on the cycles of compensated and decompensated phases from the perspective of myocyte injury. We hypothesize that persistently increased serum cTn concentrations during chronic compensated HF identify patients likely to need multiple admissions to the hospital for management of acute cardiac decompensation, worsening their long-term prognosis by causing further myocyte injury during the acute phase. In patients with acute cardiac decompensation, myocyte injury observed within hours or days has a long-term predictive value, and the acute surge of myocyte injury occurring in the acutely decompensated phase might be an important therapeutic target from the perspective of myocyte preservation. Clinical trials that limit myocyte injury during acutely decompensated as well as during chronic compensated HF are warranted.