H1N1: Heart needs to be checked too

Scientists analysing the earliest deaths due to swine flu in Mexico, believed to be the country of origin of the H1N1 virus, had made a vital finding this week , almost 62% of the fatal cases had an increased level of Creatine Kinase (CK).

Present in skeletal and heart muscles, this enzyme if secreted in higher quantities is an indication of heart or muscle damage. In cases of H1N1 infection, scientists found that patients who died of Myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle had increased CK levels.

The finding is crucial for India which has also reported deaths due to Myocarditis following H1N1 infection. Samrat Pandya, the 31-year-old resident of Gurgaon, who died on Thursday following two cardiac arrests, was diagnosed with myocarditis after an ECG was conducted. A central team that returned from Pune also reported deaths there due to Myocarditis.

Experts now are saying that doctors in charge of screening patients with H1N1 symptoms, besides looking at lungs for pneumonia or other respiratory diseases caused by H1N1, should also look for the condition of the heart. Professor of medicine at AIIMS Dr Randeep Guleria said an eco cardiograph must be done to rule out heart complications of a suspected H1N1 patient.

"If muscles and the heart gets damaged, they start secreting CK. Rise in CK means there is muscle or heart damage. In some people virus stays in the throat while in serious cases, it goes into the lungs causing pneumonia and enters the blood circulation to go to various organs, later causing multi organ failure. Therefore it is vital that doctors don't just look at the lungs but also the heart. If found affected, the treatment has to be then modified accordingly,"

[link to timesofindia.indiatimes.com]