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Myocardial injury in infants ventilated on the paediatric intensive care unit: a case control study

Simon J Clark1, Michael Eisenhut, Dorothea Sidaras

  • 1Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust, Eaton Road, Liverpool L12 2AP, UK. rvecho@yahoo.com

Critical Care (London, England)
|September 13, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Critically ill infants in the neonatal period admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) show elevated cardiac troponin T (cTnT) levels. These higher cTnT levels are not associated with increased disease severity in this age group.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Intensive Care
  • Cardiology
  • Biomarkers

Background:

  • Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is a biomarker for myocardial injury.
  • Previous studies focused on children post-cardiac surgery.
  • Myocardial injury is linked to higher mortality rates in critically ill children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess cTnT levels in infants without congenital heart disease admitted to the PICU.
  • To determine if elevated cTnT levels correlate with disease severity in these infants.

Main Methods:

  • Measured cTnT in 47 infants (<12 months) admitted to the PICU and 60 healthy controls.
  • Assessed disease severity using the Paediatric Index of Mortality (PIM) score.

Main Results:

  • PICU infants had significantly higher cTnT levels (median 18 pg/ml) than controls (median 10 pg/ml).
  • A positive correlation was found between cTnT levels and PIM score (r=0.41, p=0.004).
  • Neonatal infants (<1 month) had higher cTnT levels than older infants, but similar PIM scores. Correlation lost significance after age/weight correction.

Conclusions:

  • Neonatal infants in the PICU exhibit higher cTnT levels compared to older infants.
  • Elevated cTnT in neonatal PICU patients does not appear to indicate greater disease severity.
Abstract

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