Low Interleukin-8 Level Predicts the Occurrence of the Postpericardiotomy Syndrome

Aims: The objective of this study was to investigate inflammatory markers of the postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) and to determine individuals prone to develop the PPS. Methods and Results: The study included 75 patients with a stable coronary disease that had underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. Serum samples were collected prior to the surgery and on the 5th day after the operation, to measure the concentration of IL-8, IL-6, IL-1b, IL-10, TNF, IL-12p70. All included patients were screened for the PPS before discharge from the hospital and 6 months after the surgery. The 49 patients developed the PPS (65.4%), among them 42 (56%) patients had pleural effusion, and 23 (31%) had pericardial effusion. The cytokine analysis has shown an inverse correlation between IL-8 concentration before the surgery, and the occurrence of the PPS (p = 0.026). There were also positive correlations between the magnitude of increase of IL-8 and IL-1b concentrations on the 5th day after the surgery and the occurrence of the PPS (p = 0.006 and p = 0.049 respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed IL-8 concentration before surgery as an independent risk factor of the PPS development (HR = 0.976; 95% CI: 0.956-0.996, p = 0.02). Cut-off point was established to assess the predictive value of IL-8 concentration (21.1 pg/ml). The test parameters were: sensitivity: 62.5%, specificity: 75%, positive predictive value: 83% and negative predictive value: 50%. Clinical evaluation showed the relationship between the hemoglobin concentration before the surgery and the PPS occurrence (p = 0.01). Conclusion: The IL-8 and IL-1b may participate in the postpericardiotomy syndrome pathogenesis, and the IL-8 concentration measurement may select patients with the risk of the PPS development.