Serum cardiac troponin-I elevation in neonatal cardiac surgery is lesion-dependent.

OBJECTIVE: Serum cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I) is a marker for myocardial injury in adults that undergoes developmental isoform change. To determine its utility as a myocardial injury marker in neonates, the authors examined the perioperative pattern of cTn-I elevation in neonates undergoing surgical repair for hypoplastic left-heart syndrome (HLHS) and transposition of great arteries (TGA).

DESIGN: A prospective cohort study.

SETTING: The study was performed in a tertiary teaching hospital that is a major referral center for congenital cardiac surgery.

PATIENTS: Forty-five neonates were enrolled, 17 with HLHS, 15 with TGA with intact septum (TGA + IVS), 8 with TGA with ventricular septal defect (TGA + VSD), and 5 neonates undergoing extracardiac surgery who did not require cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

INTERVENTIONS: None.

RESULTS: Preoperative cTn-I was elevated in all neonates undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB. Increases in postoperative cTn-I correlated with duration of aortic cross-clamp application and CPB. Peak elevation in serum cTn-I occurred between 6 and 24 hours postoperatively in all neonates after cardiac surgery. The perioperative pattern of cTn-I was different in TGA + VSD (peak cTn-I = 10.9 +/- 5.9 ng/mL) compared with HLHS (peak cTn-I = 4.62 +/- 3.4 ng/mL) and TGA + IVS (peak cTn-I = 4.46 +/- 3.5 ng/mL).

CONCLUSION: It was found that perioperative elevations in serum cTn-I in neonates with TGA and HLHS were influenced by duration of aortic cross-clamp application, CPB, and the presence of VSD.