Changes in inflammatory and vasoactive mediator profiles during valvular surgery with or without infective endocarditis: A case control pilot study

More than 50% of patients with infective endocarditis (IE) develop an indication for surgery. Despite its benefit, surgery is associated with a high incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and mortality, which may be linked to increased release of inflammatory mediators during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We therefore assessed plasma cytokine profiles in patients undergoing valve surgery with or without IE. We performed a prospective case-control pilot study comparing patients undergoing cardiac valve surgery with or without IE. Plasma profiles of inflammatory mediators were measured at 7 defined time points and reported as median (interquartile). The degree of MODS was measured using sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score. Between May and December 2016 we included 40 patients (20 in each group). Both groups showed similar distribution of age and gender. Patients with IE had higher preoperative SOFA (6.9± 2.6 vs 3.8 ± 1.1, p