My thanks to the forum for all the help/counsel you have given us in the past.
I hope that you will indulge me with another question.

My Dear Wife is preparing for Aortic Valve replacement in preparation for an ablation to (hopefully) control her AFIB.
Two of the many tests she has to take before surgery, is a "High Sensitivity Troponin T" and a "NT PRO BNP".
In both these tests she is significantly above normal range.

So my question is: In the context of persistent AFIB, what is the significance of these tests? Do they signal something beside AFIB?
Would these values be different is the blood draw were taken while in NSR for several days? (in other words how volatile are these tests)

BNP > 2900, Troponin > 15

Thanks,

Troponin is evident in an assay if there is damage to myocytes, typically due to a heart attack or other type of muscle damage. BNP is a marker for heart failure. I also had to have multiple diagnostics before my electrophysiologist would tackle the AF. The reason is that a damaged heart, whether valvular or myoctytic, or both (!), will be almost impossible to treat for AF because the heart is continuing to evolve or to adapt, or to remodel itself to combat the other effects. In other words, AF doesn't just come along and decide to part in the heart for a change of scenery. It appears because of changes in the heart. If those changes can be mitigated or slowed greatly, even reversed, say with surgery to repair a valve, you can then treat the AF ...which is likely a secondary effect of the former types of disorder.

So, no, just because a heart happens to be in NSR at the moment, maybe all week, doesn't mean that troponin or BNP won't still turn up in an assay. They're still markers of damage of a sort, even if the heart happens to be in NSR.