With a goal of early risk stratification, a team of Korean researchers studied the impacts of serum biomarkers in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary PCI. They published their findings online in PLOS One.

Elevated levels of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) and N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNB) in serum were each found to more than double the risk of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) within one year of primary PCI. Patients with high serum levels of both sST2 and NT-proBNB were nearly eight times more likely to suffer a MACCE within that period.

The researchers, led by Jongwook Yu of Gachon University Gil Medical Center, evaluated 323 STEMI patients who underwent primary PCI in a single-center, observational study. MACCE occurred in 38 patients (12 percent), including 20 cardiovascular deaths.

Blood tests and samples were obtained in an emergency room and the data were later analyzed with an eye toward improving early risk categorization of STEMI patients.

“Our results indicate high serum sST2 and NT-proBNP levels at the time of presentation in the ER are highly associated with poor prognosis and that they are probably better early prognostic markers than other parameters, including serum CK-MB (creatine kinase MB), troponin I, and copeptin levels in patients with STEMI treated by primary PCI,” wrote Yu and colleagues.