Measurement of two cardiac biomarkers within 24 hours of admission to hospital with COVID-19 might help with risk stratification, Italian specialists say.

Their study shows that patients admitted with elevated levels of both high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-TnI) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) had three times the risk of death from any cause over a median follow-up of 12 days.

The doctors at a tertiary hospital in Milan dedicated to treating people with COVID-19 routinely measured hs-TnI and BNP within 24 hours of admission during the first six weeks of the Italian epidemic.

Nearly half of those admitted had levels of either hs-TnI or BNP above the normal range (above 19.6ng/L and 100ng/L respectively), they reported in Heart.