Troponin Levels and the Severity of COVID-19 Pneumonia

Introduction In late 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the pathogen responsible for a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China. Elevated cardiac troponin is a marker of myocardial injury, which is commonly seen in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 due to unclear reasons. The frequency of elevated troponin levels in patients with COVID-19 is variable and is reported in up to 7-36% of patients. The troponin level may be associated with the severity of COVID-19, and mild cases of COVID-19 tend to have a normal troponin level. This study aims to determine the frequency of patients with COVID-19 who had elevated troponin levels on presentation to the ED and determine the factors associated with elevated troponin levels. Additionally, the study aims to identify the association of elevated troponin and the outcome of COVID-19. Methodology A retrospective study wherein the factors associated with elevated troponin levels in COVID-19 pneumonia were evaluated. The study was conducted in King Fand Hospital of the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. The Hospital Information System was used to identify all visits to the ED from March 2020 to November 2020 for patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In addition, a structured data collection form was used to collect data from the electronic health records. The data collection was conducted by emergency medicine physicians who were given a detailed explanation of the purpose of the study and had training and supervision by the principal investigator. Results The study involved 214 patients who presented to the ED and had positive results on the SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and had troponin-I levels measured. Patients with elevated troponin levels were more likely to require supplementary oxygen compared with those with normal troponin levels (88.0 vs. 58.5%; P < 0.01). In total, 36 (76.6%) patients with elevated troponin levels required admission to the ICU compared with 58 (45.0%) patients with normal troponin levels (P < 0.01). Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of elevated troponin levels on presentation. The model revealed that being admitted in the ICU was the single independent predictor (P= 0.02). Conclusion The study demonstrated that the troponin level on presentation to the ED was a viable independent prognostic factor in COVID-19 pneumonia. However, further studies are needed to investigate targeted therapeutic interventions among patients with elevated troponin levels, such as cardioprotective therapies like corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, antivirals, or immunoglobulins.