Background

Congenital heart diseases accounts for nearly one third of all major congenital anomalies. Different modalities for diagnosis of CHD are available, in spite of that only 73% can be diagnosed before discharge from hospital, while 27% discharged without diagnosis. There is an increasing need for new diagnostic modalities to help early diagnosis and screening of CHD, biomarkers as cardiac troponin I represents an excellent choice.

Aim

The aim of this study is to find new, easy and noninvasive diagnostic modalities for earlier detection of congenital heart diseases.

Patients /Methods

The study was case control study. The study involved 50 cases. cases will be divided into 2 main groups: group (1) 25 patients with congenital heart diseases confirmed by echocardiography, group (2) (control) 25 healthy newborns and infants, patients with CHD in group (1) was further divided into 2 subgroups: group (1a) patients with simple shunts, group (1b) patients with combined defects. Each case was subjected to complete history, physical examination, and peripheral blood samples were withdrawn and cardiac troponin I level was measured.

Results

Serum level of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) was higher in the diseased group compared to the control group, and is higher in patients with complex defects compared to patients with simple shunts. The sensitivity of the test was 72% and the specificity was 92%.

Conclusion

Serum cTnI level was found to have a statistically significant association with congenital heart disease, being higher in complex defects than simple shunts.