Postoperative kinetics of common inflammatory biomarkers after congenital heart defect procedures with extracorporeal circulation in children.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal circulation is associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Therefore, the diagnosis of infection should be differentiated from a typical postoperative course. AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the kinetics of inflammatory biomarkers in children in the first days after cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation. METHODS: Prospective data were collected from 51 consecutive children referred for surgical treatment in Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, St. Adalbertus Hospital in Gdansk, between February and August 2015. Blood samples were collected on the first, second, and third postoperative days and sent to the institutional laboratory for routine investigations: white blood cell count, serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin concentrations. RESULTS: The highest levels of procalcitonin were on the first postoperative day (median 3.53 ng/mL), although the peak values of CRP concentration and white blood cell count were on the second postoperative day (96 mg/L and 17.3 G/L). In the group of patients with foreign material implantation (Contegra® or Gore-Tex®), the higher values of procalcitonin concentration and white blood cell count were measured in the subsequent postoperative days. CONCLUSIONS: The kinetics of analysed inflammatory biomarkers on the first days after cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease in children have different characteristics. The knowledge about the kinetics of inflammatory biomarkers could be useful in determining the possibility of evolving infections in the early postoperative period.