English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Serum ferritin, which measures stored iron, is an inflammatory marker and a potential novel risk factor for CAD. Its role in coronary artery disease like acute myocardial infarction has generated considerable interest in recent times. There is a plethora of articles reporting the relationship between serum ferritin and acute myocardial infarction but with conflicting and contradictory results. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1) To compare serum ferritin levels in cases of coronary artery disease with those of controls, in order to assess the relationship of serum ferritin with coronary artery disease. 2) To compare serum ferritin levels in cases of unstable angina with those of AMI (NSTEMI & STEMI) and healthy controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this hospital based case-control study, 30 cases of acute myocardial infarction, 30 cases of unstable angina admitted to hospital in SGRD & Rand 30 age, sex and haemoglobin matched healthy controls were enrolled. Patients were allocated into 2 equal groups- Unstable Angina and AMI (NSTEMI & STEMI).Serum ferritin was estimated in cases of acute myocardial infarction on fifth day following occurrence of first symptom and on day 1 in patients in control group. Data was compiled and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: In this study, it was observed that the mean serum ferritin levels in controls were comparatively higher (165.13 ± 104.17 ng/ml) than that in the patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (81.83 ± 97.46ng/ml) and Unstable Angina (90.24 ± 41.88ng/ml). Although the value of mean serum ferritin was within normal limits in both the groups under but it was higher in controls as compared to that in patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction and Unstable Angina and this difference was statistically highly significant (p<0.001). When levels of mean serum ferritin in patients with AMI and UA were compared, the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The present study concluded that the risk of coronary artery disease is inversely proportional to the serum ferritin level because the mean serum ferritin levels were statistically lower in cases of AMI and UA as compared to those of control group. However, there was no difference of levels between AMI and UA.