The diagnostic value of serum YKL-40 for myocardial involvement in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy

•IIM patients with myocardial injury had significantly higher YKL-40 concentration than non– myocardial injury.•serum YKL-40 was an independent risk factor for myocardial involvement in IIM.•In this retrospective study, we illustrate the potential of YKL-40 as reliable diagnostic biomarkers for predicting myocardial injury in IIM. To investigate the diagnostic value of serum chitinase-3-like-1 protein (YKL-40) levels for myocardial involvement in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). A total of 74 patients with definite IIM who visited Jiangsu Province People's Hospital between May 2018 and January 2022 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Baseline clinical evaluation, laboratory index, electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiography (ECHO) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters were collected. Serum YKL-40 of all participants was determined by ELISA. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the diagnostic value of YKL-40 in assessing myocardial involvement in IIM patients. 1. YKL-40 concentration was significantly higher in IIM patients with myocardial injury than without myocardial injury.2. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that serum YKL-40 was an independent risk factor for myocardial involvement in IIM.3. YKL-40 > 66.4 ng/ml (AUC = 0.85, 95 % CI 0.75–0.95) predicted myocardial injury in IIM with a sensitivity of 0.75 and specificity of 0.95. Serum YKL-40 could serve as a potential biomarker to predict myocardial injury in IIM patients.