Galectin-3 as a Biomarker of Heart Failure in Children with Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

Background: Heart failure is defined as a clinical and pathophysiologic syndrome results from ventricular dysfunction, volume, or pressure overload, alone or both. Galectin-3 is a novel biomarker that mediates fibrosis in many organs like the heart that interest in galactin3 as a potential heart failure biomarker that reflects ongoing ventricular remodeling. Objective: To see if galectin-3 acts as a biomarker of heart failure in congenital heart disease and evaluate if there is a correlation between galectin-3 and severity of HF detected by Ross classification and echocardiogram. Patients and Methods: The present study included 38 cases with HF due to CHD admitted to PICU and pediatric department at Zagazig University Hospital from July 2018 to July 2019. Patients were selected to exclude heart failure other than congenital heart disease. Results: Galectin-3 level was significantly higher in children with CHD than age and sex-matched healthy children. There were statistically significant positive correlations between Galectin 3 and ROSS so higher Galectin-3 levels were associated with measures of HF severity. The level was significantly elevated in children with HF in comparison to those without HF, with a significant correlation with the disease severity. Galectin 3 had sensitivity 80%, specificity 100%, PPV 100% and PPN 71.4%. Conclusion: Galectin-3 has short term prognosis and can be used as a tool to help in HF diagnosis in children as a marker of disease severity (positive correlation between Ross classification and galectin-3 serum level was proved) and staging patients with acute HF due to congenital heart diseases.