Efficacy of Carperitide in Hemodialysis Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

PURPOSE Recently, performance of cardiac surgery in hemodialysis patients has increased, but the mortality rate is high. METHODS We retrospectively examined the early and long-term outcomes in 128 dialysis patients who underwent cardiac surgery with or without carperitide infusion and were followed for 2 years. Sixty-three patients received carperitide infusion during surgery and 65 patients did not. RESULTS The hospital mortality rate was 1.6% in the carperitide group and 12.3% in the non-carperitide group, being significantly lower in the carperitide group. The 2-year actuarial survival rate was 90.5% ± 3.7% in the carperitide group, and 76.9% ± 5.2% in the non-carperitide group, while the major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE)-free rate at 2 years postoperatively was 90.5% ± 3.7% in the carperitide group and 67.7% ± 5.8% in the non-carperitide group. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that carperitide improves the early postoperative outcome in dialysis patients undergoing cardiac surgery, as has already been demonstrated in non-dialysis patients. An early postoperative cardioprotective effect of carperitide and improvement of renal function in oliguric patients might have contributed to this outcome. However, this was a retrospective study, so a prospective investigation is required to demonstrate the mechanisms involved. In addition, further evaluation of the long-term results would be desirable.