Serum troponin-I as an indicator of clinically significant myocardial injury in paediatric trauma patients

Myocardial injury is a cause of mortality in paediatric trauma, but it is often difficult to diagnose. The objectives of this pilot study were to (1) determine the prevalence of elevated cardiac troponin I (TnI) in paediatric trauma patients and (2) to determine whether elevated TnI correlates with clinically significant myocardial injury, defined as abnormalities on echocardiogram (ECHO) and/or electrocardiograms (ECG). To this end, we investigated a convenient sample size of 59 paediatric trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 12. TnI and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) were measured on admission, at then at regular intervals until TnI had normalized. Patients with elevated TnI levels had an ECHO performed within 24 h of admission and underwent daily ECGs until TnI normalized. Elevated serum TnI was found in n = 16/59 (27%; 95% CI: 18–40%) patients and was associated with elevated CK-MB in all cases. Abnormal ECHOs were seen in 4/16 patients with elevated TnI, but peak TnI values did not correlate with abnormalities on ECHO (p = 0.23). Only 1 patient had a clinically significant, albeit mild, decrease in cardiac function. All ECGs were normal. Patients with elevated TnI were more likely to be intubated (p = 0.04), to have higher Injury Severity Scores (p = 0.02), required more resuscitation fluid (p = 0.001), and to have thoracic injuries (p < 0.001). Our data indicates that the prevalence of elevated TnI in paediatric trauma patients is 27%; and whilst elevated TnI reflects overall trauma severity, it is frequently elevated without a clinically significance myocardial injury. Hence, large scale studies are required to determine if an elevated threshold TnI value can be identified to accurately diagnose severe myocardial injury in paediatric trauma.