Biomarkers for Risk Prediction in Cardiac Surgical Patients

Abstract

Circulating cardiac biomarkers are used clinically to diagnose and risk stratify patients with different types of heart disease. Preoperative risk stratification models in patients subjected to cardiac surgery are well established, and the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II model is widely used, but currently these models do not include circulating cardiac biomarkers. Jon Brynildsen, MD, has investigated the use of circulating cardiac biomarkers to risk stratify patients before or after cardiac surgery. The established cardiac biomarkers troponin T and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and the novel cardiac biomarker secretoneurin were compared with the EuroSCORE II model. The results demonstrate substantial additional prognostic information by established and novel circulating cardiac biomarkers to the established risk models in patients undergoing or being evaluated for cardiac surgery. The results also show that it is possible to simplify risk models without losing prognostic information by combining biomarker measurements with some key clinical risk factors in cardiac surgical patients