134NEURON-SPECIFIC ENOLASE CORRELATES TO LABORATORY MARKERS OF HAEMOLYSIS IN PATIENTS ON LONG-TERM CIRCULATORY SUPPORT

Objectives: Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) correlates to cerebral injury such as ischaemic damage or bleeding. However, NSE has also been linked to haemolysis ex-vivo as a laboratory issue and was found to be increased early after cardiac surgery. Chronic haemolysis is frequently associated with mechanical circulatory support by ventricular assist devices (VAD) or total artificial heart (TAH). Therefore, we compared NSE to indicators of haemolysis in VAD and TAH patients. Methods: We analysed 716 samples of 123 consecutive patients (non-pulsatile VAD, n = 109, pulsatile VAD, n = 11, TAH, n = 3) for NSE (normal