Elevated Cardiac Troponin levels indicate mortality risk in influenza patients

It was a multicentric retrospective observational study in 1828 patients ≥ 18 years, who had hsTnT performed during admission in two tertiary-hospitals in South Australia between January 2016 to March 2020. They confirmed the diagnosis of influenza by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) test and hsTnT > 14 ng/L with a change of > 20% during admission was considered to be indicative of acute-cardiac injury. Clinical characteristics, complications and 30-day mortality were compared among four groups: hsTnT unavailable, hsTnT negative, chronically elevated hsTnT and acutely elevated hsTnT.

Upon analyzing the troponin results of 617 (47.7%) patients, researchers found that 62 (10%) had an acute myocardial injury and 232 (37.6%) had chronic hsTnT elevation. They also found both inpatient and 30-day mortality were significantly higher among patients with acute and chronic hsTnT when compared to other groups. When compared to patients with negative hsTnT, they noted acute but not chronic hsTnT elevation was significantly associated with 30-day mortality after adjustment for various covariates (HR 8.30)

The authors concluded, "This is the largest available analysis of cardiac-specific biomarker hsTnT in patients with influenza. An acutely elevated hsTnT was associated with 30-day mortality among hospitalised influenza patients".

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcha.2020.100682