Prospective Reassessment of the Association Between Pro-Inflammatory Factors and Prognosis After on-Pump Cardiac Surgery.

Aim: Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory factors in plasma have been linked to worse prognosis after on-pump cardiac surgery, yet interventions that reduce the levels in patients have failed to improve prognosis. Therefore, we explored whether levels of pro-inflammatory factors are associated with prognosis of patients after valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Material and methods: 244 patients were prospectively enrolled into observational study. Levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) - α, interleukin-8 and neutrophil elastase were measured once before and several times after cardiopulmonary bypass. The levels were compared between patients who experienced in-hospital adverse events or not, and between patients who experienced major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) during three-year follow-up or not.

Results: Of the 244 patients enrolled, in-hospital adverse events occurred in 38 (15.6 %); of the 237 patients who completed follow-up, MACCEs occurred in 30 (12.7 %). Surgery led to significant increases in levels of all three pro-inflammatory factors, with levels returning to pre-bypass baseline on arrival in the intensive care unit (TNF-α), 4 h after arrival (interleukin-8) or 20 h after arrival (neutrophil elastase). However, pre- and post-bypass levels of all three factors did not differ significantly between patients who experienced adverse events in-hospital or not, or between patients who experienced MACCEs during follow-up or not.

Conclusions: Levels of TNF-α, interleukin-8 and neutrophil elastase may not be associated with poor prognosis after cardiopulmonary bypass. This may help explain why "cytokine clearance" strategies fail to improve clinical outcomes after on-pump cardiac surgery.