Elevated myocardial damage biomarker values in patients with COVID-19 disease are associated with increased mortality, according to data obtained in a recent study.
Relationship between biomarkers of cardiac damage and increased COVID-19 mortality
The data from this study, which analyzed the behavior of markers of myocardial damage in patients admitted for COVID-19, show that patients with higher levels of biomarker determination are older, as well as have greater comorbidity and severity of the disease.
With regard to the rates of increase in each biomarker according to age group and sex, there are practically no differences between men and women for increases in levels of ultrasensitive troponin I or natriuretic peptides.
According to the results, an increase in myoglobin, which is the early release marker in the presence of myocardial damage, showed the best performance in predicting the risk of mortality due to COVID-19.
On the other hand, the cumulative percentages of patients with increased cardiac biomarkers and their relationship with some markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil count, elevated interleukin-6, etc.) were analyzed.
In the case of patients with no signs of damage, the increase in inflammatory markers was lower and slower than in those patients with signs of myocardial damage.
On the other hand, in patients with myocardial damage during hospitalization, the percentage of neutrophils and CRP values increased early and in parallel after the onset of the disease.
In conclusion, the results of this study show that biomarkers of cardiac damage are significantly associated with increased mortality from COVID-19.