PURPOSE:

Copeptin, a stable peptide derived from the AVP precursor, has been linked to presence and severity of myocardial ischemia. We sought to evaluate the predictive value of copeptin and its incremental value beyond that of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) in patients with acute chest pain and low to intermediate risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODS:

We recruited patients who presented with acute chest pain to the emergency department and had a negative initial conventional troponin T test (<0.03 μg/L). In all patients, hs-cTnT and copeptin measurements were taken. Each patient also underwent cardiac computed tomography (CT) and coronary angiography.

RESULTS:

Baseline copeptin concentrations, in contrast to hs-cTnT, were not significantly higher in patients with ACS than in those without (P = 0.24). hs-cTnT showed an earlier rise in patients with ACS than copeptin, when analyses were stratified by time. A copeptin concentration ≥7.38 pmol/L had a negative predictive value (NPV) of 94% and a sensitivity of 51%, whereas hs-cTnT (≥13.0 pg/mL) had a NPV of 96% and a sensitivity of 63%. The combination of copeptin and hs-cTnT resulted in a lower diagnostic accuracy than hs-cTnT alone. Finally, on cardiac CT, copeptin concentrations were not associated with coronary artery morphology, although they were related to the presence of left ventricular dysfunction (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS:

Among patients with acute chest pain and low to intermediate risk for ACS, copeptin concentrations are not independently predictive of ACS and do not add diagnostic value beyond that of hs-cTnT measurements.