title: Troponin-T levels in perinatally asphyxiated infants during the first 15 days of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure serial cardiac troponin-T, creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase levels in asphyxiated newborn infants during the first 15 d of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Troponin-T, creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentrations were measured prospectively in blood samples obtained from 45 asphyxiated and 15 healthy term neonates within the first 2-4 h, third, seventh and 15th days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Infants with severe asphyxia had significantly higher cardiac troponin-T levels than grade I and II asphyxiated and healthy neonates within the first 2-4 h of life (0.34+/-0.21 ag/ml vs 0.07+/-0.03 ag/ml, 0.12+/-0.07 ag/ml, 0.04+/-0.02 ag/ml, respectively). Troponin-T levels remained high on days 3 and 7 in severely asphyxiated neonates. The creatinine kinase-MB levels were significantly higher in grade II and III asphyxiated neonates than grade I asphyxiated and healthy neonates within the first 2-4 h. No difference was found in creatinine kinase-MB on day 3. There was cardiac involvement in 12 (80%) newborns of group III on B mode echocardiographic images on day 1. However, no echocardigraphic pathology was found in the seventh- and 15th-day echocardiographic analysis in any groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that asphyxia-related cardiac changes were significant but reversible in severely asphyxiated neonates, and troponin T is a good determinant of the degree of injury to the heart within the first week of life. Cardiac troponin T also has a wider diagnostic frame than other diagnostic markers of myocardial damage.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey. trgunes@ercites.edu.tr
authors.forename: Tamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Güneś
authors.forename: M Adnan
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oztürk
authors.forename: Selmin Muradaldi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Köklü
authors.forename: Nazmi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Narin
authors.forename: Esad
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Köklü
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology; D015415:Biomarkers; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020107:Troponin T