부산대학교 도서관

Background: Fulminant myocarditis (FM) is a fatal disease that causes rapid-onset severe heart failure requiring inotropes or mechanical circulatory support (MCS). Because insufficient myocardial recovery requires durable left ventricular assist device or heart transplantation, the course of myocardial recovery should be predicted.Hypothesis: Cardiac troponins, which elevates due to myocardial damage, may associate with myocardial recovery in FM.Purpose: We aimed to investigate the relationship between cardiac troponin T (TnT) levels and myocardial recovery course in patients with FM.Method: We performed a retrospective medical record review of 19 patients with FM requiring MCS from May 2012 to January 2020. The serial changes of one-week left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after MCS implantation according to TnT levels were evaluated.Results: Median age was 50 years and 10 patients were male. As for initial MCS, veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) with intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP) were used in 13 patients, IABP in 4 patients, VA-ECMO in one patient, and impella 2.5 in one patient. Median peak TnT level within one week after MCS implantation were 4.43 (2.47 - 34.6) ng/mL. The patients were divided into High-TnT group and Low-TnT group according to median peak TnT level. All patients in both groups were alive until 7 days after MCS implantation, and LVEF on day 7 was significantly lower in the High-TnT group (Fig). TnT level was highest on day 1 and gradually decreased in the High-TnT group (Fig). Six patients died during hospitalization in the High-TnT group, in contrast, only one patient died in the Low-TnT group (p=0.020). Peak TnT level in patients with LVEF ≥30% (n=8) on day 7 was significantly lower than in patients with LVEF <30% (2.40 vs 13.5 ng/mL, p=0.012), however, other laboratory parameters showed no significant differences.Conclusion: Higher TnT level showed impaired myocardial recovery in patients with FM.