Role of Cardiac Biomarkers in the Assessment of Acute Cerebrovascular Accident

Background  Stroke (cerebrovascular accident) has for long been a global burden in terms of its morbidity and mortality. Serum levels of cardiac enzymes such as creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) component, troponin T, and brain natriuretic peptide have been found to be elevated among the patients with stroke and also serve to prognosticate these patients. The serum levels of these enzymes correlate directly to the severity of stroke in these patients. Objective  Elevated cardiac enzymes among patients with acute cerebrovascular accidents are not uncommon despite the patients not having any cardiac problems. We aimed to identify the occurrence of elevated cardiac enzymes among patients with acute stroke and their correlation with the severity of stroke. Materials and Methods  Our study included 100 patients of acute stroke with no previous history of cardiac ailments. Serum levels of troponin I and CK-MB were analyzed among these patients using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method within the first 2 hours of admission. Patients outcome during the hospital stay were analyzed. Stroke severity was assessed using the National Institute of Health Stroke score (NIHS score) and the modified Rankin Score (mRS). The cardiac enzyme levels were correlated with these scores. Results  Twenty-eight percent of patients had elevated troponin I, while 72% patients had normal levels with the mean values of 10.36 to 106.54 ng/mL and 0.00 to 0.02 ng/mL, respectively. CK-MB levels were found elevated among 14% patients and normal among 86% patients with mean values of 5.8 to 124.36 and 0.0 to 4.3 ng/mL, respectively. Among the six patients who succumbed to death, three patients had increased troponin I and four had elevated CK-MB. NIHS scores of 21.0357±6.79 and 105.277±5.564 were seen in patients with elevated and normal troponin I, whereas NIHS scores of 20.4285±8.658 and 11.8721±9.273 were seen among patients with increased and normal CK-MB, respectively. The mRS scores were 4.3214±0.367, 2.4305±1.374, 4.2143±1.412, and 2.756±1.749 ng/mL among the patients with elevated and normal troponin I and CK-MB, respectively. Conclusion  The mean values of cardiac enzymes troponin I and CK-MB were higher among patients with higher scores of NIHS and mRS. Among them, troponin I was very significant and it may serve as an early biomarker for the severity of stroke and hint on early cardiac evaluation among these patients.