Changes of serum uric acid and its clinical correlation in children with dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common type of childhood cardiomyopathy and uric acid (UA) is considered closely associated with cardiovascular disease. There are few reports about the relationship between serum UA level and DCM in children, and the present study aimed to analyze the changes and clinical correlation of the two.

The clinical data of 49 children under 16 years old and who were hospitalized with DCM, and 44 healthy children who underwent physical examination in the same period at Tianjin Children's Hospital from June 2015 to November 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.

The 49 children in the case group included 17 males and 32 females, aged from 2 to 172 months. The case group were divided into New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I (n=2), class II (n=17), class III (n=11), and class IV (n=19). The 44 healthy children selected as the control group included 20 males and 24 females aged from 2 to 161 months. The serum UA level was detected, and an ultrasonic cardiogram was conducted in each child. The serum UA level, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), and left atrial diameter (LAD) of the case group were higher than that of the control group, while the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS) were lower than that of the control group, and significant statistical differences were seen between the two groups (P<0.01). The serum UA level, LVEDD, LVESD, and LAD of NYHAIII-IV class patients were higher than that of the NYHAI-II class, but LVEF and LVFS were lower than that of the NYHA I-II class, and there were significant statistical differences between the two groups (P<0.01). Statistical correlations were seen between the serum UA level and NYHA functional class, LVEDD, LVESD, LAD, LVEF, and LVFS (rs=0.599, 0.567, 0.579, 0.475, -0.333, -0.341, respectively, P<0.05).

Elevated serum UA levels exist in children with DCM and correlate with NYHA functional class and ultrasonic values. Change in serum UA levels may be used as a biomarker reflecting the severity of DCM in children.