Serum levels of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) and heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) independently predict in-hospital mortality in geriatric patients with COVID-19

Elevation of cardiac damage biomarkers is associated with adverse clinical outcomes and increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. This study assessed the association of admission serum levels of sST2 and H-FABP with in-hospital mortality in 191 geriatric patients (median age 86 yrs., IQR 82-91 yrs.) with COVID-19 and available measures of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP at admission. Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to predict in-hospital mortality, considering clinical/biochemical confounders as covariates. A composite cardiac score was calculated to improve predictive accuracy. Patients deceased during their hospital stay (26%) exhibited higher levels of all biomarkers, which demonstrated good discrimination for in-hospital mortality. Addition of sST2 and H-FABP significantly improved the discriminatory power of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP. The composite cardiac score (AUC=0.866) further enhanced the predictive accuracy. Crude and adjusted Cox regressions models revealed that both sST2 and H-FABP were independently associated with in-hospital mortality (HR for sST2 ≥129 ng/mL, 4.32 [1.48-12.59]; HR for H-FABP ≥18 ng/mL, 7.70 [2.12-28.01]). The composite cardiac score also independently correlated with in-hospital mortality (HR for 1-unit increase, 1.47 [1.14-1.90]). In older patients with COVID-19, sST2 and H-FABP demonstrated prognostic value, improving the predictive accuracy of the routinely assessed biomarkers hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP.