OBJECTIVES: The aim was to evaluate the association between perioperative inflammatory biomarkers and atrial fibrillation (AF) in cardiac surgical patients. METHODS: Forty-two patients undergoing cardiac surgery were divided into three groups according to the occurrence of AF: Group A (n = 22) - patients with no AF, Group B (n = 11) - patients with new onset AF postoperatively and Group C (n = 9) - patients with preoperative history of atrial fibrillation. The serum levels of PTX3, CRP, TLR2, IL-8, IL-18, sFas, MMP-7 and MMP-8 were measured at the following time points: before surgery, immediately and 6 h after surgery and on the 1(st), 3(rd) and 7(th) postoperative days (POD). RESULTS: Serum levels of PTX3 showed a significant difference between Groups A and C on the 3(rd) POD (p<0.05) and on the 7(th) POD (p<0.0001). IL-8 levels were different between Groups A and C immediately after surgery (p<0.05), 6 hours after surgery (p<0.05) and on the 3(rd) POD (p<0.05). There was a difference between Groups B and C on the 1(st) POD in IL-8 levels (p<0.05). The sFas levels differed between Groups A and C on the 3(rd) POD (p<0.01) and the 7(th) POD (p<0.05). There was also a difference on the 7(th) POD (p<0.05) between the Groups B and C. No significant differences between the groups was seen for other biomarkers. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates significantly different dynamics of PTX3, IL-8 and sFas levels after cardiac surgery in relation to AF.

Department of Cardiac Surgery Charles University Prague Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Department of Cardiac Surgery Charles University Prague Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic 2 Department of Cardiac Surgery Kerckhoff Heart and Lung Centre Bad Nauheim Germany

Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergology Charles University Prague Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

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