IMR Press / RCM / Volume 23 / Issue 9 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2309314
Open Access Original Research
Comparative Effectiveness of Combined IgM-Enriched Immunoglobulin and Extracorporeal Blood Purification Plus Standard Care Versus Standard Care for Sepsis and Septic Shock after Cardiac Surgery
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1 Cardiovascular Anesthesia and ICU, San Carlo Hospital, 85100 Potenza, Italy
2 Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, San Bortolo Hospital, 36100 Vicenza, Italy
3 Department of Aaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy
4 Intensive Cardiac Care Unit, San Carlo Hospital, 85100 Potenza, Italy
5 CardioThoracoVascular Department, Heart Center, Grande Ospedale Metropolitano “Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli”, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy
6 Caridiovascular Anesthesia and ICU, Ospedale san Martino, 16132 Genova, Italy
7 Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC-CNR), Clinical Epidemiology, And Physiopathology of Renal Diseases and Hypertension of Reggio Calabria, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy
8 Regional Complex Intercompany Institute of Legal Medicine, San Carlo Hospital, 85100 Potenza, Italy
9 Department of Emergency and Organ Transplant, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
10 Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia and Intensive Care University Hospital, 37126 Verona, Italy
*Correspondence: paternosterginaluca@gmail.com (Gianluca Paternoster)
Academic Editors: Julio Núñez Villota and Teruo Inoue
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2022, 23(9), 314; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2309314
Submitted: 21 July 2022 | Revised: 12 August 2022 | Accepted: 12 August 2022 | Published: 14 September 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiac Anesthesia)
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: The combination of surgery, bacterial spread-out, and artificial cardiopulmonary bypass surfaces results in a release of key inflammatory mediators leading to an overshooting systemic hyper-inflammatory condition frequently associated with compromised hemodynamics and organ dysfunction. A promising approach could be extracorporeal blood purification therapies in combination with IgM enriched immunoglobulin. This approach might perform a balanced control of both hyper and hypo-inflammatory phases as an immune-modulating intervention. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study of patients with proven infection after cardiac surgery between January 2020 and December 2021. Patients were divided into two groups: (1) the first group (Control Group) followed a standard care approach as recommended by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines; The second group (Active Group) underwent extracorporeal blood purification therapy (EBPT) in combination with intravenous administration of IgM enriched immunoglobulin 5 mL/kg die for at least three consecutive days, in conjunction with the standard approach (SSC Guidelines). In addition, ventriculo-arterial (V/A) coupling, Interleukin 6 (IL-6), Endotoxin Activity Assay (EAA), Procalcitonin, White Blood Cells (WBC) counts, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) Score and Inotropic Score were assessed in both two groups at different time points. Results: Fifty-four patients were recruited; 25 were in the Control Group, while 29 participants were in the Active Group. SOFA score significantly improved from baseline [12 (9–16)] until at T3 [8 (3–13)] in the active group; it was associated with a median EAA reduction from 1.03 (0.39–1.20) at T0 to 0.41 (0.2–0.9) at T3 in the active group compared with control group 0.70 (0.50–1.00) at T0 to 0.70 (0.50–1.00) at T3 (p < 0.001). V/A coupling tended to be lower in patients of the active arm ranging from 1.9 (1.2–2.7) at T0 to 0.8 (0.8–2.2) at T3 than in those of the control arm ranging from 2.1 (1.4–2.2) at T0 to 1.75 (1.45–2.1) at T3 (p = 0.099). The hemodynamic improvement over time was associated with evident but no significant decrease in inotropic score in the active group compared with the control group. Changes in EAA value from T0 to T4 were directly and significantly related (r = 0.39, p = 0.006) to those of V/A coupling. Conclusions: EBPT, in combination with IgM enriched immunoglobulin, was associated with a mitigated postoperative response of key cytokines with a significant decrease in IL-6, Procalcitonin, and EAA and was associated with improvement of clinical and metabolic parameters.

Keywords
blood purification therapy
cardiac surgery
IgM-enriched immunoglobulin
sepsis
pentaglobin
hyper-inflammation
immunosuppression
Figures
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