%0 Journal Article
%T Myocarditis in Under-Five Children with Community-Acquired Pneumonia Using Serum Cardiac Troponin-T and Electrocardiography
%A Samsudeen Alao
%A Chinyere Uzodimma
%A Adebiyi Olowu
%J Open Access Library Journal
%V 10
%N 11
%P 1-11
%@ 2333-9721
%D 2023
%I Open Access Library
%R 10.4236/oalib.1110894
%X Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) kills more under-five (U-5) children in Sub-Saharan Africa than in any other part of the world. Co-existing myocarditis and congestive cardiac failure (CCF) in the setting of CAP could play a crucial role in determining the disease outcome. The aim of the study was to evaluate myocarditis in U-5 children with CAP in the emergency room setting using cardiac troponin-T (cTnT) and electrocardiography (ECG). A hospital based cross-sectional study involving 76 children with CAP aged between 2 - 59 months, and their age- and sex-matched controls. Serum cTnT was measured using Roche Cobas<sup>&reg;</sup> h232 POC system and standard electrocardiographic (ECG) tracings were obtained from participants using the APS Three Channel ECG-3B (Model- EKG-903A3) machine to evaluate for myocarditis. The mean age of subjects in this study was 19.8 ¡À 12.2 months. The prevalence of ECG features of myocarditis was 45%. The ECG features of myocarditis detected in the study include prolonged PR interval, reduced QRS voltages in limb leads, right axis deviation and prolonged QTc. Presence of elevated cTnT (¡Ý50 ng/L) suggestive of myocarditis was detected in about 10% of subjects with CAP, particularly in those with CCF. The presence of elevated cTnT was a better predictor of mortality than the ECG features of myocarditis (p = 0.029). The prevalence of myocardial involvement in U-5 children with CAP is high and an elevated serum cTnT predicts mortality better than ECG changes in children with CAP.
%K Cardiac Troponin-T
%K Myocarditis
%K Electrocardiography
%K Pneumonia
%U http://www.oalib.com/paper/6808399