For a study, it was determined that Galectin-3 was a brand-new biomarker involved in tissue inflammation, cardiac remodeling, and fibrosis. It’s easy to diagnose early heart failure (HF) by measuring it in the circulation. This study aimed to determine the utility of the galectin-3 assay in the early detection of children with heart failure caused by congenital heart disease (CHD) and to link it with the patients’ outcomes. Group A: 45 CHD children with HF symptoms and a reduced ejection fraction (REF) and Group B: 30 CHD children with no HF symptoms. Researchers included a normal ejection fraction (NEF) in this prospective cohort research. They compared 40 controls who were age and sex-matched (Group C). History taking, Ross HF classification, echocardiographic assessment, and laboratory investigations, including serum galactin-3 level, were performed on children with CHD.
The serum level of galectin-3 increased in CHD youngsters, with a substantial rise in (Gp A) compared to (Gp B) or (Gp C) (P=0.001). Furthermore, blood Galactin-3 levels were positively connected with Ross classification (r=0.68, P=0.018) and inversely correlated with EF% (r=-0.61, P<0.001). With a cut point of >=10.4, Galactin-3 had 96.7% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 91% positive predictive value, 93.2 % negative predictive value, area under the curve (AUC=0.96) and 93% accuracy in early diagnosis of HF in CHD children, outperforming Ross HF classification. While there was a significant link between Ross HF classification and HF outcome in (Gp A) children (P=0.05), there was no link between serum galectin-3 levels and HF mortality in the same group (P=0.08). The galectin-3 assay was a promising marker for HF early detection in children with CHD, although it has no significance in HF mortality detection.
Reference:bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-020-02427-9
