COHb Level and High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T in 2012 in Bursa, Turkey: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

BACKGROUND: Intoxication due to carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the most common types of poisoning. Cardiac effects of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) range from simple arrhythmias to myocardial infarction. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between blood carboxyhemoglobin and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) level with a highly sensitive assay in patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted on 141 (54 males and 87 females) patients, with acute CO intoxication, admitted to the Sevket Yilmaz research and education hospital emergency unit during a one-year period (January 2012 - January 2013). The patients were divided into three groups based on COHb levels: Group I, mild COHb level < 15%; Group II, COHb between 15% and 25%; Group III, severe acute CO intoxication COHb levels > 25%. COHb, hs-cTnT (Stat), creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) levels were measured on admission. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 38 ± 16 years. COHb levels ranged from 8 to 35. hs-cTnT levels on inclusion in this study were slightly different between the groups (P = 0.05). COHb levels with hs-cTnT values were weakly correlated (r = 0.173, P = 0.041); on the other hand, CK-MB levels were not correlated with COHb (r = 0.013, P = 0.883). CONCLUSIONS: In patients without clear signs of myocardial infarction, even mild CO poisoning was associated with quantifiable circulating levels of hs-cTnT when TnT was measured using a highly sensitive assay in the current study patients. Plasma levels of the hs-TnT and CK-MB assays were not correlated with the COHb levels in the current study patients.