Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma

Electrocardiographic abnormalities and troponin levels provide insight on the prognosis of COVID-19 patients: A single center experience from Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Amin Mahdavi 1
Meysam Moravej 2
Maryam Aliramezany 3

1 Cardiovascular Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

2 Cardiovascular Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences , Kerman, Iran

3 Cardiovascular Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

https://doi.org/10.34172/jept.2021.29
Abstract
Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infection which can present itself by
the involvement of various organs, but the most common manifestations are respiratory
symptoms, fever and dyspnea with a high mortality rate. In order to study the prognosis of
patients and also to determine the treatment plan, we need non-invasive methods which
can be easily used in the triage of patients. In this study, we investigated the diagnostic
value of electrocardiographic (ECG) changes and troponin levels in patients with this
disease.
Methods: This is a descriptive study. Confirmed COVID-19 patients participated in the
present study. Data were collected by taking history and referring to medical records. We
analyzed data by using chi square, t test and logistic regression through SPSS software
version 22.
Results: One hundred and five patients with COVID-19 disease were examined. Most
patients were men (53.3%) and the mean age was 54.53 years. The most common underlying
diseases were hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Ninety-five patients had abnormal
electrocardiography including eleven with long QT; seven with arrhythmia; 78 with sinus
tachycardia; 7 with hemi-block; 1 with hemi-block and first degree atrioventricular block;
4 with abnormal axis and 28 with ischemic changes. Eleven patients (10.5%) had positive
troponin level, whose length of hospital stay was higher (12.73 vs. 12.07 days). Furthermore,
their mean length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was also higher. In addition, among the
troponin-positive group, 100% had abnormal electrocardiography.
Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that ECG abnormalities and troponin
levels could provide good information about the prognosis of patients. Moreover, it seems
that ECG changes in COVID-19 patients, whether indicative of underlying heart disease or
resulted from infection, can affect the prognosis of patients. Therefore, considering ECG
findings and troponin levels can help select patients at a higher risk for triage.

Keywords

Electrocardiography
Troponin
COVID-19
Myocardial damage
Subjects
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Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma
Volume 8, Issue 1
January 2022
Pages 37-42

  • Receive Date 23 August 2021
  • Revise Date 16 November 2021
  • Accept Date 24 November 2021

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