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Background. In cardiac surgery, patients face an increased risk of developing postoperative delirium (POD) that is associated with poor outcomes. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) have shown some promising results as potential tools for POD risk stratification, diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis. Methods. Prospective single-centre study enrolled 44 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/ or valve procedures using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The patients were assessed and monitored preoperatively, during surgery, and in the early postoperative period. The blood levels of NSE and GFAP were measured before and after surgery. The early POD was assessed by CAM-ICU criteria and patients were assigned to the POD group (with POD) or to the NPOD group (without POD) retrospectively. Results. The incidence of POD was 18.2%. After surgery, NSE significantly increased in the whole sample (p = 0.002). Comparing between groups, NSE significantly increased in the POD group after surgery (p = 0.042). ΔGFAP (before/after operation) for the whole sample was statistically significant (p = 0.022). There was a significant correlation between ΔGFAP and the lowest MAP during surgery in the POD group (p = 0.033). Conclusions. Our study demonstrated that NSE and GFAP are associated with early POD. An increase in NSE level during the perioperative period may be associated with subclinical neuronal damage. Serum GFAP levels show the damage of glial cells. Further studies are needed to find the factors influencing the individual limits of optimal MAP during surgery.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to identify predictors of repeated admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) of patients who underwent cardiac surgery procedures.Material/MethodsThis retrospective study analyzed 169 patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) between January 2009 and December 2010. The case group contained 54 patients who were readmitted to the ICU during the same hospitalization and the control group comprised 115 randomly selected patients.ResultsLogistic regression analysis revealed that independent predictors for readmission to the ICU after CABG were: older age of patients (odds ratio [OR] 1.04; CI 1.004–1.08); body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m2 (OR 2.55; CI 1.31–4.97); EuroSCORE II >3.9% (OR 3.56; CI 1.59–7.98); non-elective surgery (OR 2.85; CI 1.37–5.95); duration of operation >4 h (OR 3.44; CI 1.54–7.69); bypass time >103 min (OR 2.5; CI 1.37–4.57); mechanical ventilation >530 min (OR 3.98; CI 1.82–8.7); and postoperative central nervous system (CNS) disorders (OR 3.95; CI 1.44–10.85). The hospital mortality of patients who were readmitted to the ICU was significantly higher compared to the patients who did not require readmission (17% vs. 3.8%, p=0.025).ConclusionsIdentification of patients at risk of ICU readmission should focus on older patients, those who have higher BMI, who underwent non-elective surgery, whose operation time was more than 4 hours, and who have postoperative CNS disorders. Careful optimization of these high-risk patients and caution before discharging them from the ICU may help reduce the rate of ICU readmission, mortality, length of stay, and cost.

ObjectiveThis study was performed to investigate the correlation among decreased regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2), blood levels of brain injury biomarkers, and postoperative cognitive disorder (POCD) after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).MethodsThis prospective observational study included 59 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery with CPB. All patients underwent neuropsychological tests (Mini Mental State Evaluation, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, digit span test, digit symbol substitution test, and Schulte table) the day before and 10 days after the surgery. The blood levels of two brain injury biomarkers, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), were measured before and 1 day after the surgery.ResultsThe rSO2 decreased during surgery in 21 (35%) patients. POCD was detected in 22 (37%) patients. After the surgery, no significant changes in the GFAP blood level occurred in any patients. No significant correlations were found among the decreased rSO2, increased NSE blood level, and rate of POCD.ConclusionThese results suggest that a decrease in rSO2 during cardiac surgery is not necessarily related to the development of POCD or an increased blood level of the brain injury biomarker NSE.

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