Zeitschrift für Lungenkrankheiten und -behandlung

Cardiac Troponin I Levels in Children with Acute Severe Asthma Treated with IV Salbutamol

Abstract

Kulkarni H, Akwei S, Luyt DK, Gaillard EA, Mulla H and Pandya HC

Background: Severe acute asthma and its treatment may uncommonly result in cardiac complications such as arrhythmias and acute coronary ischaemia.
Methods: We carried out a retrospective audit of 14 children treated for acute severe asthma with intravenous (IV) salbutamol at the Leicester Royal Infirmary between September 2012 and April 2013. Cardiac troponin I levels were measured at the time blood was sampled for monitoring of blood biochemistry.
Results: Cardiac troponin I (CTnI) levels ranged from 20 to 4255 mg/ml; 8 children had elevated CTnI levels (>40mg/ ml) on 9 occasions. Neither total (mg/kg) salbutamol (inhaled + IV) or total (mg/kg) salbutamol IV dose correlated with blood CTnI levels.
Conclusions: In most patients, raised CTnI were not associated with signs or symptoms of cardiac dysfunction. Our findings highlight the need for close cardiac monitoring of children with acute severe asthma on IV salbutamol therapy.