Longitudinal Study of CPK-MB and Echocardiographic Measures of Myocardial Dysfunction in Pediatric Sepsis: Are Patients with Shock Different from Those without?

BACKGROUND: Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction has implications on outcome. For lack of echocardiography in resource-limited settings, myocardial biomarkers may be an alternative monitoring tool. OBJECTIVE: This study was planned to explore the longitudinal behavior of creatine phosphokinase-MB (CPK-MB) in children with sepsis with and without shock, and its correlation with clinical and echocardiographic parameters over the first 10 days. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Tertiary care hospital in a lower-middle-income economy of South Asia. PATIENTS: Children (3 months to 12 years) with nonshock sepsis (NSS) (n = 40) and septic shock survivors (SSSs) (n = 40) after optimal resuscitation. Patients with catecholamine refractory shock, preexisting heart disease, and cardiorespiratory event within the past 1 month were excluded from the study. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Pediatric logistic organ dysfunction (PeLOD) score, vasoactive inotrope score (VIS), CPK-MB, and echocardiographic measures of myocardial function were recorded on days 1, 3, 7, and 10. Echocardiography was repeated at 1 month. Both groups were similar at baseline. The SSSs had higher CPK-MB (180 vs 53 IU/L; p < 0.001) and PeLOD score (2 ± 0.4 vs 11.7 ± 5.1, p < 0.001) on day 1 compared to the NSS children. More than half of the SSS and none of the NSS patients had myocardial dysfunction. Reduction in CPK-MB over 10 days correlated well with improvement in PeLOD (p < 0.01), VIS (p = 0.04), and echocardiographic measures of myocardial dysfunction (p < 0.05) among SSSs. At 1 month follow-up, all had normal echocardiography. CONCLUSION: The SSSs had markedly elevated CPK-MB, and its fall paralleled the improvement in clinical status and myocardial dysfunctions. The CPK-MB could be a potential monitoring tool for septic cardiomyopathy in resource-limited settings. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Baranwal AK, Deepthi G, Rohit MK, Jayashree M, Angurana SK, Kumar-M P. Longitudinal Study of CPK-MB and Echocardiographic Measures of Myocardial Dysfunction in Pediatric Sepsis: Are Patients with Shock Different from Those without? Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(2):109–115.