Outcomes of cardiac surgery are influenced by systemic inflammation. High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a pivotal inflammatory mediator, plays a potential role as a prognostic biomarker in cardiovascular disease. The aim of this prospective, observational study was to investigate the relationship between serum HMGB1 concentrations and composite of morbidity endpoints in cardiac surgery. Arterial blood samples for HMGB1 measurement were collected from 250 patients after anaesthetic induction (baseline) and 1 h after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (post-CPB). The incidence of composite of morbidity endpoints (death, myocardial infarction, stroke, renal failure and prolonged ventilator care) was compared in relation to the tertile distribution of serum HMGB1 concentrations. The incidence of composite of morbidity endpoints was significantly different with respect to the tertile distribution of post-CPB HMGB1 concentrations (p = 0.005) only, and not to the baseline. Multivariable analysis revealed post-CPB HMGB1 concentration (OR, 1.072; p = 0.044), preoperative creatinine and duration of CPB as independent risk factors of adverse outcome. Accounting for its prominent role in mediating sterile inflammation and its relation to detrimental outcome, HMGB1 measured 1 h after weaning from CPB would serve as a useful biomarker for accurate risk stratification in cardiac surgical patients and may guide tailored anti-inflammatory therapy.Despite advances in perioperative care, cardiac surgery continues to be associated with an increased risk of unfavourable outcomes 1 . In conjunction with patient-related factors, systemic inflammation has been recognized as a key factor for post-operative complications, including multi-organ failure or even death 2 . Nevertheless, studies addressing the prognostic role of non-specific serum markers of inflammation in cardiac surgery yielded conflicting results 3-5 , not to mention that indiscriminate anti-inflammatory therapies represented by using steroids did not prove to be beneficial 6 .High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is an important mediator of sterile inflammatory responses in organ damage; it is either released from the nucleus of necrotic cells or actively secreted from inflammatory cells 7 . Accordingly, studies have elucidated the role of increased serum HMGB1 concentration in acute coronary syndrome, atherosclerosis, heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases as a marker for inflammatory response and detrimental outcome [8][9][10][11] . However, no studies have examined the prognostic role of serum HMGB1 levels in cardiac surgery, while the importance of a reliable biomarker reflecting extensive systemic inflammation cannot be overemphasized in terms of accurate risk stratification and as a potential guide for selective application of therapies in that regard. This prospective, observational study aims to investigate the prognostic role of HMGB1 through identifying the relationship between serum HMGB1 concentrations and the incidence of the composite of morbidity end...