European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), one of the most widely used tumor markers, has been recently associated with carotid atherosclerosis. Aims: To assess the level of carcinoembryonic antigen in patients with unstable angina and its relation with quantitative troponin-I.  Materials and methods: An observational study was conducted for a period of two years among 120 patients with unstable angina in the department of general medicine, aim to assess the level of carcinoembryonic antigen in patients with unstable angina and its relation with quantitative troponin-I.  Results: The mean age of the study population was 51.9 ± 7.9 years. The gender ration male to female in the present study was 2.9:1 with male dominance (74.2%). Out of 120 cases, 15.8% had family history of myocardial infarction. The mean body mass index (BMI) of the study population was 25.8 ± 3.6 kg/sq.mt. Among 120 cases, 14.2% were overweight, 41.6% were pre-obese and 14.2% were obese. In the present study, 28.3% had diabetes mellitus, 22.5% had hypertension and 20.8% had hyperlipidaemia. All the cases had chest pain at the time presentation. 12.5% had shortness of breath, 17.5% had chest discomfort, 20.8% had sweating and 36.7% had tachycardia. Among 120 cases, ECG findings shows that 44.2% had ST elevation, 39.2% had t-wave changes and 28.3% had other ECG changes. The mean Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the study population was 44.9 ± 7.91%. The mean Troponin-I (ng/ml) in the study population was 0.12 ± 0.04 ng/ml with 95% Confidence Interval of 0.10 – 0.12 ng/ml. The mean CEA (ng/ml) in the study population was 3.63 ± 0.88 ng/ml with 95% Confidence Interval of 3.47 – 3.79 ng/ml. There was a positive correlation  between CEA and Troponin-I, but there was no statistical significant association found between CEA and Troponin-I .  Conclusions: A biomarker such as CEA can give physician a window period to act and prevent myocardial necrosis from occurring in the first place. This can be helpful in future to bring down ACS related mortality and morbidity significantly.