Another Thomasian marks first.
UST Hospital cardiologist Dr. Crismelita Mariñas won the First Young Investigators Award from the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) for her study, “The Prognostic Value of Cardiac Troponin I in Non-Seratonin Elevation Myocordial Infarction (NSTMEI)” during the 35th PHA Annual Convention at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel last May 29.
Mariñas, a UST Medical Technology alumna, investigated the correlation between cardiac Tropinin I levels and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and its clinical outcome on NSTMEI patients. Cardiac troponin I is a natural biochemical marker of cardiac muscles that transmits impulses from the heart to the spinal cord and to the brain. Today it is the standard for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) because of its high sensitivity for myocardial tissue damage. LVEF on the other hand is the principal method for estimating the extent of myocardial injury.
Ischemic heart disease, caused by insufficient blood supply to the cardiac muscles, has been the most common cause of mortality for several decades that Mariñas saw a need for a reliable indicator for myocordial injury.
The cardiologist assessed NSTME patients in her study and discovered that out of 133 patients, the mortality rate was at 14 per cent.
“The higher the level of cardiac troponin I, the lower the ejection fraction, but the higher the risks in mortality,” she said.
Dr. Mariñas will represent the country in the 15th Asean Congress of Cardiology in Patayya, Thailand on October 23-27. Jefferson O. Evalarosa
