Prevalence of Elevated Troponin- I among Hospitalized Patients with COVID- 19.

Background: Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused millions of pneumonia related death since December 2019. Cardiac troponin-I elevation is associated with adverse outcomes in cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular disease. There is a lack of data regarding the role of troponin-I on the assessment and COVID-19 stage classification and stratification. Objective: The study was aimed to estimate prevalence of troponin-I among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Methods: This cross sectional descriptive type of observational study was carried out at COVID-19 isolation unit of Sylhet Women’s Medical College Hospital during the period of six months from April 2021 to September 2021. Data were collected from purposively selected 204 patients with COVID-19 from patient files and EMR. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 21.0. Results: The study results revealed that mean age of the patients with COVID-19 was 57.97 years with a standard deviation of 15.78 years. Majority of them (121, 59.3%) were female and the remaining (83, 40.7%) were male. Proportion of comorbidities were estimated and found that each 115 (56.4%) patients were hypertensive and diabetic. Thirty five (16.2%) had ischemic heart disease; 3 (1.5%) had congestive cardiac failure and 2 (1.0%) had asthma. Only 1 (0.5%) patent has atrial fibrillation. Minimum level of troponin-I was 0.01 ng/ml and the maximum level was 21.70 ng/ml with a range of 21.69 ng/ml. Mean troponin-I of patients with COVID-19 was 0.38±1.78 ng/ml. Estimated prevalence of elevated troponin-I was 39.1%. Level of troponin-I in patients of different age group was compared and Chi-square test showed no significant difference (p>0.05). Elevation of troponin-I in both sex was compared and again Chi-square test showed no significant difference (p>0.05). Elevation of troponin-I was significantly higher on those who were detected by RT-PCR than those who were detected by rapid antigen test (p=0.048).Conclusion: Though the pattern of elevation of troponin-I was found similar in younger and older patients and in males and females, a significant number of patients with COVID-19 (65/204, 39.1%) had elevated troponin-I which should be addressed to evaluate and manage patients with COVID-19 more efficiently.