High-Dose Methylprednisolone Has No Benefit Over Moderate Dose for the Correction of Tetralogy of Fallot

Opportunities of cerebroprotection in children in cardiac surgery (review of literature)

The analysis of the literature in the main search scientific systems was carried out to identify the current means of cerebroprotection. The assessment is given both to the familiar methods that  have become «traditional» for cardiac surgery (hypothermia, etc.) and pharmacological approaches that are less common in clinical practice: the use of melatonin,  ketamine.  The characteristics of some drugs that  are promising for solving this problem are also given.

Methylprednisolone in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: Is There Enough Evidence?

Corticosteroids have been used to decrease the inflammatory response to cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass in children for decades. Sparse information is present concerning the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of corticosteroids in the context of pediatric cardiac surgery. There is large interindividual variability in plasma concentrations, with indications for a larger volume of distribution in neonates compared to other age groups. There is ample evidence that perioperative use of MP leads to a decrease in pro-inflammatory mediators and an increase in anti-inflammatory mediators, with no difference in effect between doses of 2 and 30 mg/kg. No differences in inflammatory mediators have been shown between different times of administration relative to the start of surgery in various studies. MP has been shown to have a beneficial effect in certain subgroups of patients but is also associated with side effects. In lower risk categories, the balance between risk and benefit may be shifted toward risk. There is limited information on short- to medium-term outcome (mortality, low cardiac output syndrome, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay in the intensive care unit or the hospital), mostly from underpowered studies. No information on long-term outcome, such as neurodevelopmental outcome, is available. MP may provide a small benefit that is easily abolished by patient characteristics, surgical techniques, and perfusion management. The lack of evidence leads to large differences in practice between and within countries, and even within hospitals, so there is a need for adequately powered randomized studies.

Methylprednisolone Plasma Concentrations During Cardiac Surgery With Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pediatric Patients

Introduction: To our knowledge, methylprednisolone pharmacokinetics and plasma concentrations have not been comprehensively investigated in children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. It is unknown whether there is a significant influence of cardiopulmonary bypass on the plasma concentrations of methylprednisolone and whether this may be an explanation for the limited reported efficacy of steroid administration in cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Methods: The study was registered in the Dutch Trial Register (NTR3579; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/3428). Methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg was administered as an intravenous bolus after induction of anesthesia. Methylprednisolone concentration was measured with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and analyzed using linear mixed-effects modeling.

Results: Thirty-nine patients were included in the study, of which three were excluded. There was an acute decrease in observed methylprednisolone plasma concentration on initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass (median = 26.8%, range = 13.9–48.14%, p < 0.001). We found a lower intercept (p = 0.02), as well as a less steep slope of the model predicted methylprednisolone concentration vs. time curve for neonates (p = 0.048). A lower intercept (p = 0.01) and a less steep slope (p = 0.0024) if the volume of cell saver blood processed was larger than 91 ml/kg were also found.

Discussion: We report similar methylprednisolone plasma concentrations as earlier studies performed in children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass, and we confirmed the large interindividual variability in achieved methylprednisolone plasma concentrations with weight-based methylprednisolone administration. A larger volume of distribution and a lower clearance of methylprednisolone for neonates were suggested. The half-life of methylprednisolone in our study was calculated to be longer than 6 h for neonates, 4.7 h for infants, 3.6 h for preschool children and 4.7 h for school children. The possible influence of treatment of pulmonary hypertension with sildenafil and temperature needs to be investigated further.

Lung Injury After Neonatal Congenital Cardiac Surgery Is Mild and Modifiable by Corticosteroids

OBJECTIVES

The present study was performed to determine whether lung injury manifests as lung edema in neonates after congenital cardiac surgery and whether a stress-dose corticosteroid (SDC) regimen attenuates postoperative lung injury in neonates after congenital cardiac surgery.

DESIGN

A supplementary report of a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

SETTING

A pediatric tertiary university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Forty neonates (age ≤28 days) undergoing congenital cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

INTERVENTIONS

After anesthesia induction, patients were assigned randomly to receive intravenously either 2 mg/kg methylprednisolone or placebo b, which was followed by hydrocortisone or placebo bolus six hours after weaning from CPB for five days as follows: 0.2 mg/kg/h for 48 hours, 0.1 mg/kg/h for the next 48 hours, and 0.05 mg/kg/h for the following 24 hours.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The chest radiography lung edema score was lower in the SDC than in the placebo group on the first postoperative day (POD one) (p = 0.03) and on PODs two and three (p = 0.03). Furthermore, a modest increase in the edema score of 0.9 was noted in the placebo group, whereas the edema score remained at the preoperative level in the SDC group. Postoperative dynamic respiratory system compliance was higher in the SDC group until POD three (p < 0.01). However, postoperative oxygenation; length of mechanical ventilation; and tracheal aspirate biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, namely interleukin-6, interleukin-8, resistin, and 8-isoprostane, showed no differences between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The SDC regimen reduced the development of mild and likely clinically insignificant radiographic lung edema and improved postoperative dynamic respiratory system compliance without adverse events, but it failed to improve postoperative oxygenation and length of mechanical ventilation.

Impact of Corticosteroids on Cardiopulmonary Bypass Induced Inflammation in Children: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Corticosteroids suppress the inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass in children undergoing cardiac surgery. What is less clear is the impact of corticosteroids on the postoperative course.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was made of prospective randomized blinded placebo-controlled trials of pediatric patients who received corticosteroids or saline placebo before surgery was performed. Ten studies met inclusion criteria for a total of 768 patients. In a prespecified subgroup analysis, studies that either were limited to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons-European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery congenital heart surgery mortality categories 1 and 2 or excluded neonates were eliminated and a secondary analysis was conducted, which consisted of seven studies and 555 patients.

RESULTS

Corticosteroids were associated with a significant improvement in fluid balance at 24 and 36 hours after surgery, with a mean difference of -15.2 mL/kg (95% confidence interval, 25.3 to -5.1 mL/kg; P < .01) and -5.7 mL/kg (95% confidence interval, -9.8 to -1.6 mL/kg; P < .01), respectively. Corticosteroids had no impact on the incidence of infection or mortality. With the secondary analysis, corticosteroids were associated with a trend toward significance in shortening the duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference -0.7 days; 95% confidence interval, -1.7 to 0.1; P = .08).

CONCLUSIONS

Corticosteroids were found to have a favorable impact on postoperative fluid balance and may be associated with shortening the duration of mechanical ventilation. Although corticosteroids had no impact on mortality, they may be beneficial particularly for neonates and patients undergoing highly complex surgery.

Prophylactic corticosteroids for paediatric heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass

BACKGROUND

Corticosteroids are routinely given to children undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in an attempt to ameliorate the inflammatory response. Their use is still controversial and the decision to administer the intervention can vary by centre and/or by individual doctors within that centre.

OBJECTIVES

This review is designed to assess the benefits and harms of prophylactic corticosteroids in children between birth and 18 years of age undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science in June 2020. We also searched four clinical trials registers and conducted backward and forward citation searching of relevant articles.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included studies of prophylactic administration of corticosteroids, including single and multiple doses, and all types of corticosteroids administered via any route and at any time-point in the perioperative period. We excluded studies if steroids were administered therapeutically. We included individually randomised controlled trials (RCTs), with two or more groups (e.g. multi-drug or dose comparisons with a control group) but not 'head-to-head' trials without a placebo or a group that did not receive corticosteroids. We included studies in children, from birth up to 18 years of age, including preterm infants, undergoing cardiac surgery with the use of CPB. We also excluded studies in patients undergoing heart or lung transplantation, or both; studies in patients already receiving corticosteroids; in patients with abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; and in patients given steroids at the time of cardiac surgery for indications other than cardiac surgery.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We used the Covidence systematic review manager to extract and manage data for the review. Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed risks of bias. We resolved disagreements by consensus or by consultation with a third review author. We assessed the certainty of evidence with GRADE.

MAIN RESULTS

We found 3748 studies, of which 888 were duplicate records. Two studies had the same clinical trial registration number, but reported different populations and interventions. We therefore included them as separate studies. We screened titles and abstracts of 2868 records and reviewed full text reports for 84 studies to determine eligibility. We extracted data for 13 studies. Pooled analyses are based on eight studies. We reported the remaining five studies narratively due to zero events for both intervention and placebo in the outcomes of interest. Therefore, the final meta-analysis included eight studies with a combined population of 478 participants. There was a low or unclear risk of bias across the domains. There was moderate certainty of evidence that corticosteroids do not change the risk of in-hospital mortality (five RCTs; 313 participants; risk ratio (RR) 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.33 to 2.07) for children undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB. There was high certainty of evidence that corticosteroids reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation (six RCTs; 421 participants; mean difference (MD) 11.37 hours lower, 95% CI -20.29 to -2.45) after the surgery. There was high-certainty evidence that the intervention probably made little to no difference to the length of postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) stay (six RCTs; 421 participants; MD 0.28 days lower, 95% CI -0.79 to 0.24) and moderate-certainty evidence that the intervention probably made little to no difference to the length of the postoperative hospital stay (one RCT; 176 participants; mean length of stay 22 days; MD -0.70 days, 95% CI -2.62 to 1.22). There was moderate certainty of evidence for no effect of the intervention on all-cause mortality at the longest follow-up (five RCTs; 313 participants; RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.33 to 2.07) or cardiovascular mortality at the longest follow-up (three RCTs; 109 participants; RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.07 to 2.46). There was low certainty of evidence that corticosteroids probably make little to no difference to children separating from CPB (one RCT; 40 participants; RR 0.20, 95% CI 0.01 to 3.92). We were unable to report information regarding adverse events of the intervention due to the heterogeneity of reporting of outcomes. We downgraded the certainty of evidence for several reasons, including imprecision due to small sample sizes, a single study providing data for an individual outcome, the inclusion of both appreciable benefit and harm in the confidence interval, and publication bias.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Corticosteroids  probably do not change the risk of mortality for children having heart surgery using CPB at any time point. They probably reduce the duration of postoperative ventilation in this context, but have little or no effect on the total length of postoperative ICU stay or total postoperative hospital stay. There was inconsistency in the adverse event outcomes reported which, consequently, could not be pooled. It is therefore impossible to provide any implications and policy-makers will be unable to make any recommendations for practice without evidence about adverse effects. The review highlighted the need for well-conducted RCTs powered for clinical outcomes to confirm or refute the effect of corticosteroids versus placebo in children having cardiac surgery with CPB. A core outcome set for adverse event reporting in the paediatric major surgery and intensive care setting is required.

Reduction of Inflammation by High-Dose Methylprednisolone Does not Attenuate Oxidative Stress in Children Undergoing Bidirectional Glenn Procedure With or Without Aortic Arch or Pulmonary Arterial Repair

OBJECTIVE

Corticosteroids attenuate an inflammatory reaction in pediatric heart surgery. Inflammation is a source of free oxygen radicals. Children with a cyanotic heart defect are prone to increased radical stress during heart surgery. The authors hypothesized that high-dose methylprednisolone reduces inflammatory reaction and thereby also oxidative stress in infants with a univentricular heart defect undergoing the bidirectional Glenn procedure.

DESIGN

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.

SETTING

Operating room and pediatric intensive care unit of a university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

The study comprised 29 infants undergoing the bidirectional Glenn procedure with or without aortic arch or pulmonary arterial repair.

INTERVENTIONS

After anesthesia induction, the patients received intravenously either 30 mg/kg of methylprednisolone (n = 15) or the same volume of saline as placebo (n = 14).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Plasma interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10 (biomarkers of inflammation), and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine concentrations (a biomarker of oxidative stress) were measured at the following 4 time points: preoperatively, during cardiopulmonary bypass, after protamine administration, and 6 hours postoperatively. The study parameters did not differ between the study groups preoperatively. Methylprednisolone reduced the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 postoperatively. Despite reduced inflammation, there were no differences in 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine between the methylprednisolone and placebo groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The proinflammatory reaction and increase in free radical stress were not interrelated during congenital heart surgery in cyanotic infants with a univentricular heart defect undergoing the bidirectional Glenn procedure. High-dose methylprednisolone was ineffective in attenuating free radical stress.

The effects of ω-3 fish oil emulsion-based parenteral nutrition plus combination treatment for acute paraquat poisoning

Objective

To investigate the effects of parenteral nutrition (PN) including ω-3 fish-oil emulsion on nutritional state, inflammatory response, and prognosis in patients with acute paraquat poisoning.

Methods

Patients randomized to receive medium chain triglycerides (MCT)/long chain triglycerides (LCT)-based PN (control group) or MCT/LCT-based PN containing ω-3 fish-oil emulsion (intervention group) were compared for 90-day survival and short-term treatment efficacy.

Results

Tumour necrosis factor-α levels were significantly lower in the intervention group (n = 101) versus controls (n = 73) on treatment days 4 and 7. Intervention group C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly increased on day 4, decreased to baseline (day 1) levels on day 7, and were significantly lower than baseline on day 10. Control group CRP levels were significantly increased on days 4 and 7 versus baseline, and returned to baseline levels on day 10. On day 7, retinol binding protein had recovered to baseline levels in the intervention group only. Intervention group mortality rate (36.6%) was significantly lower than controls (57.5%). ω-3 fish-oil PN was associated with reduced risk of death (hazard ratio 0.52; 95% confidence interval 0.33, 0.82).

Conclusion

In patients with acute paraquat poisoning, MCT/LCT with ω-3 fish-oil emulsion PN plus combination treatment advantageously attenuated the inflammatory response, modified the nutritional state, and was associated with significantly improved 90-day survival versus treatment without ω-3 fish oil.