A STUDY OF SERUM FERRITIN IN ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION : A CASE CONTROL STUDY

Abstract

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To study the levels of serum ferritin in acute myocardial infarction. 2. Compare relationship of serum ferritin with conventional risk factors of acute myocardial infarction like diabetes mellitus, body mass index, hypertension and smoking. MATERIAL and METHODS : Study design: A total of 200 patients (100 cases and equal number of controls) were enrolled in a case control study to assess the levels of serum ferritin in acute myocardial infarction. Study Site: BLDE (Deemed to be University) Shri B. M. Patil Medical college Hospital and Research Centre, Vijayapur. Study population: Patients admitted to BLDEU’S Shri B. M. Patil Medical college Hospital and Research Centre, Vijayapur with acute myocardial infarction. Study duration: The study was carried out from October 2015 to January 2018 RESULTS: It was observed that significantly higher number of patients in Cases Group had serum ferritin level >300μg/l as compared to Control Group (55% vs. 9%). The mean serum ferritin levels were significantly higher in Cases Group as compared to Control Group (332.5 vs. 153.8 μg/l) (p<0.05). The mean serum ferritin levels of males and females patients in Cases Group were significantly higher as compared to Control Group (320.3 vs. 160.1μg/l and 327.7 vs. 137.5 μg/l respectively) as per Student t-test (p<0.05). There was no significant difference of mean serum ferritin levels of males and females patients within the group (p>0.05). It was observed that significantly more patients in Cases Group (69%) than Control Group (34%) had concentrations above the cut-off of 200 μg/L (p<0.05). In multivariate analysis, Diabetes Mellitus (P = 0.001, OR = 7.64, 95% CI 2.37–24.58), HDL (P < 0.001, OR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.79–0.93) and serum ferritin (>200 μg/L) (P < 0.001, OR = 5.72, 95% CI 2.16–15.17), are found to be independently associated with AMI. Conclusion and interpretation Higher levels of ferritin, seems to be a strong risk factor for AMI. Patients with higher ferritin level can easily be identified during routine haematological analysis along with other risk factor estimation. Regular monitoring of serum ferritin levels may help in reduction of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.