Objective: To investigate the clinical potential of several markers of spinal cord ischemia in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum during aneurysm repair of the descending thoracic or thoracoabdominal aorta.
Design: Observational study of consecutive patients. Nonblinded, nonrandomized.
Setting: University hospital thoracic surgical unit.
Participants: Eleven consecutive elective patients.
Interventions: Distal extracorporeal circulation and maintenance of CSF pressure <10 mmHg until intrathecal catheter removal.
Measurements and main results: CSF and serum levels of S100B (and its isoforms S100A1B and S100BB), neuronal-specific enolase (NSE), and the CSF levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAp) and lactate were determined. Two patients had postoperative neurologic deficit. One with a stroke showed a 540-fold increased GFAp, a 6-fold NSE, and S100B increase in CSF. One with paraplegia had a 270-fold increase in GFAp, a 2-fold increase in NSE, and 5-fold increased S100B in CSF. One patient without deficit increased GFAp 10-fold, NSE 4-fold, and S100B 23-fold in CSF. CSF lactate increased >50% in 6 of 9 patients without neurologic deficit. Serum S100B increased within 1 hour of surgery in all patients without any concomitant increase in CSF. S100A1B was about 70% of total S100B in both serum and CSF in patients with or without neurologic defects. S100B in CSF increased 3-fold in 3 of 9 asymptomatic patients.
Conclusions: In patients with neurologic deficit, GFAp in CSF showed the most pronounced increase. Biochemical markers in CSF may increase without neurologic symptoms. There is a significant increase in serum S100B from surgical trauma alone without any increase in CSF.