Abstract 17331: Elevated Troponin Levels Predict Major Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes and Mortality in COVID-19 Patients

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Introduction: Measurement of cardiac biomarkers such as troponin-I (TnI) are useful in assessing for the presence of cardiovascular events. Chest pain is often not a presenting complaint of COVID-19 patients, yet there have been many cases of patients experiencing possible cardiovascular complications. We sought to examine the value of elevated TnI in predicting the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and mortality in COVID-19 patients Methods: A retrospective review was performed on 225 hospitalized patients that tested positive for COVID-19 between March and May 2020 at our quaternary care hospital. Baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes of their disease course were identified. During the chart review, we documented the admission and peak TnI levels available in the medical record, and noted the occurrence of MACE (a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, or shock requiring vasopressor support) or death. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s chi square test and logistic regression to adjust for age. Results: Of the 225 hospitalized patients, only 31(14.83%) complained of chest pain on admission. Among patients with elevated TnI, 49.15% had MACE/ Mortality, compared to 21% with non-elevated TnI. Patients with elevated TnI were nearly 4 times more likely to have MACE/Mortality than patients with non-elevated TnI (p = 0.0001; OR = 3.97; 95% CI [1.88, 8.41]). They were also 3.63 times more likely to have MACE alone (p < 0.0001; OR = 3.63; 95% CI [1.70, 7.79]). Median peak TnI values were higher in patients who had a MACE compared to those who did not (0.0275 ng/mL [IQR 0.012-0.152] vs 0.012 ng/mL [IQR 0.012-0.152], p <0.05). For every one-unit increase in peak TnI levels, the age-adjusted odds of having MACE increased by a factor of 4468.37 (95% CI [9.07 2200316.00]; p = 0.008). Conclusions: Based on our data, elevated troponin-I levels predict the occurrence of MACE in patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19. Furthermore, there is an association between elevated troponin-I and eventual MACE, mortality, or both. This suggests that checking troponin-I levels in COVID-19 patients holds prognostic value, irrespective of the presence of chest pain as a presenting complaint.