Serum troponin I: a potential biomarker of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in term newborns.

OBJECTIVE: This study was intended to evaluate the predictive values of serum procalcitonin (PCT), lactate, creatine kinase (CK-MB), and troponin I on the diagnosis and staging of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively retrieved data from electronic medical records at our children's hospital, and we included all term newborns admitted between December 2018 and June 2020 with features of perinatal asphyxia. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to measure and evaluate the predictive values of biomarkers. p values < 0.05 were set as statistical significance.

RESULTS: A total of 201 neonates were included. They were grouped as control (n = 40), mild HIE (n = 105), moderate HIE (n = 36), and severe HIE (n = 20). Serum lactate, PCT, CK-MB, and troponin I levels in severe hypoxic-ischemic brain injury group were significantly higher than those in mild to moderate hypoxic-ischemic brain injury group and control group (p < 0.05). Based on ROC and AUC analysis, troponin I showed highest predictive ability with AUC of 0.904, and sensitivity and specificity of 95.00% and 87.50% respectively.

CONCLUSION: Serum troponin I has a good predictive value for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy after perinatal asphyxia.