Incidence of Myocardial Injury and Cardiac Dysfunction after Adult Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction after traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been reported in observational studies, but there is no robust estimate of their incidences. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled incidence of myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction among adult patients with TBI. A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from inception to November 2022. Observational studies were included if they reported at least one abnormal electrocardiographic finding, elevated cardiac troponin level, or echocardiographic evaluation of systolic function or left ventricular wall motion in adult patients with TBI. Myocardial injury was defined as elevated cardiac troponin level according to the original studies and cardiac dysfunction was defined as the presence of left ventricular ejection fraction <50% or regional wall motion abnormalities assessed by echocardiography. The meta-analysis of the pooled incidence of myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction was performed using random-effect models. The pooled estimated incidence of myocardial injury after TBI (17 studies, 3,773 participants) was 33% (95% CI: 27%-39%, I 2:s 93%), and the pooled estimated incidence of cardiac dysfunction after TBI (9 studies, 557 participants) was 16.% (95% CI: 9%-25.%, I 2: 84%). Although there was significant heterogeneity between studies and potential overestimation of the incidence of myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction, our findings suggest that myocardial injury occurs in approximately one-third of adults after TBI, and cardiac dysfunction occurs in approximately one-sixth of patients with TBI.