Table 2.
Parameters of cardiac function and cardiac laboratory parameters of patients treated with dexamethasone vs. controls.
| Dexamethasone (n = 113) | No dexamethasone (n = 65) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echocardiography | % | N | % | N | P-value |
| LV systolic function | 0.304 | ||||
| Normal | 73.1 | 68 | 81.3 | 39 | 0.924* |
| Mildly reduced | 14.0 | 13 | 4.2 | 2 | 0.352* |
| Moderately reduced | 7.5 | 7 | 6.3 | 3 | 0.990* |
| Severly reduced | 5.4 | 5 | 8.3 | 4 | 0.990* |
| LV dilated | 8.9 | 8 | 6.3 | 3 | 0.747 |
| RV dilated | 12.2 | 11 | 12.8 | 6 | 0.927 |
| Pericardial effusion | 2.2 | 2 | 8.5 | 4 | 0.179 |
| Cardiac laboratory parameters | Median | IQR | Median | IQR | P -value |
| High sensitivity troponine max (% ULN) | 231 | 89–571 | 700 | 164–2,216 | 0.001 |
| CK max (U/L) | 338 | 142–756 | 357 | 170–892 | 0.508 |
| CK-MB max (U/L) | 31 | 23–52 | 30 | 22–44 | 0.604 |
| pBNP max (pg/ml) | 1,224 | 318–3,375 | 2,829 | 484–9,372 | 0.065 |
*
indicates p-value after Bonferroni-Holm correction for multiple testing. CK, creatinine kinase; CK-MB, creatinine kinase muscle-brain type; IQR, interquartile range; LV, left ventricle/ventricular; pBNP, pro brain natriuretic peptide; RV, right ventricle.