CT-IGFBP-4 as a Predictive Novel Biomarker of Ischemic Cardiovascular Events and Mortality: A Systematic Review.

Methods: The electronic databases PubMed, medRxiv, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were searched for relevant literature from inception to the 10th of December, 2021. Thus, retrieved literature was screened by title and abstract, followed by full-text screening based on the eligibility criteria. The risk of bias was accessed using the quality in prognostic studies (QUIPSs) tool. The data on cardiovascular outcomes about CT-IGFBP-4 levels were studied and the results were synthesized. Results: Five studies with a total of 1,417 participants were included in our study. The studies reported a low risk of bias. The mean age of the participants was 66.14 and more than 65% were males. Elevated CT-IGFBP-4 levels were associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes and increased mortality in severely ill patients. In contrast, there were no significant findings in the case of stable patients. Sandwich ELISA using lithium-heparin plasma provided a better detection limit of 0.15 ng/ml, low cross-reactivity (<2%), and generated linear results between 12 and 500 ng/ml. Conclusion: CT-IGFBP-4 is an efficient biomarker for the prediction of MACE and mortality in patients with severe ischemic cardiovascular events.

Cardiac Implications of COVID-19 in Deceased and Recovered Patients: A Systematic Review.

Background: Patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) present with various clinical presentations with majority of them developing pulmonary complications. This study focuses on cardiac implications of COVID-19 which are less discussed and thus will help to address cardiac implications of COVID-19. Methods: PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar were screened for articles which mentioned cardiac implications of COVID-19. NHLBI Study Quality Assessment Tools for the observational cohort and cross-sectional studies was used for assessing the risk of bias of our studies. Results: All 14 studies selected were good and had score of ≥9 by NHLBI Study Quality Assessment Tools. Cardiac complications of COVID-19 are common. They are associated with significant mortality. Also, people infected with COVID-19 with premorbid conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus have poor prognosis as compared to those without premorbid conditions. Cardiac biomarkers such as highly sensitive troponin I, creatinine, and creatinine kinase-MB on admission are good prognostic markers. Conclusions: Cardiac complications such as heart failure, myocardial injury, and arrhythmias are common among patients infected with COVID-19. Elevated cardiac markers and patients with cardiac complications require utmost care and continuous cardiac monitoring.