Modified ultrafiltration removes serum interleukin-8 in adult cardiac surgery.

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) causes an increase in serum cytokine levels and systemic inflamatory responses, which may trigger the onset of various types of postoperative organ failure. In the present study, modified ultrafiltration (MUF) was applied in cases of adult cardiac surgery and an attempt was made to determine whether MUF reduces serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels. Nine patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery with CPB and MUF between June 1996 and June 1997 were compared with nine control patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery without MUF in the same period. Modified ultrafiltration was performed, based on a method proposed elsewhere. Serum IL-8 was measured by enzyme immunoassay at the start of CPB, immediately after CPB, immediately after MUF and 3 h after MUF. The mean filtrated volume was 1550.0 +/- 173.2 ml. In the MUF group, haematocrit increased significantly from 21.2 +/- 2.0 to 24.9 +/- 3.3% (p = 0.0008), while systolic blood pressure increased from 97.5 +/- 16.7 to 116.5 +/- 23.9 mmHg (p = 0.0024) after MUF. In contrast, there were no changes in either haematocrit or blood pressure in the control group. In the MUF group, serum IL-8 was reduced from 69.5 +/- 33.5 to 58.9 +/- 32.4 pg/ml after MUF (p = 0.0029), whereas it was not reduced in the control group. The results of the present study suggest that MUF has beneficial effects on postoperative haemodynamics, and can reduce serum IL-8 levels in adult cardiac surgery.