Left ventricular global longitudinal strain and acute myocardial injury in patients with sickle cell disease admitted to the intensive care unit for vaso‐occlusive crisis

Abstract

SummaryIn patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), SCD‐related cardiomyopathy may be partly due to repeated ischaemic events related to sickling during vaso‐occlusive crises, but few clinical studies support this hypothesis. We evaluated the incidence of acute myocardial ischaemia during vaso‐occlusive crises as assessed by the left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) and high‐sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs‐cTnT). We included adult patients with SCD admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for vaso‐occlusive crisis. We collected hs‐cTnT and measured LVGLS with echocardiography at admission (day 1), day 2, day 3 and ICU discharge. Among 55 patients included, considering only the first hospitalization of patients admitted several times, 3 (5%) had elevated hs‐cTnT at ≥1 time point of the ICU stay. It was ≤2 times the upper limit of normal in two of these patients. LVGLS was altered at ≥1 time point of the ICU stay in 13 (24%) patients. Both hs‐cTnT and LVGLS were abnormal at ≥1 time point of the hospital stay in 2 (4%) patients. Acute myocardial injury as assessed by troponin elevation and LVGLS impairment was a rare event during vaso‐occlusive crises.