The Role of Dexmedetomidine As Myocardial Protection In Pediatric Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Open Cardiac Surgery Using Cardiopulmonary Bypass Machine: A Preliminary Study

Plain-language summary

Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) are one of the most common congenital anomalies. Worldwide, 8 to 9 out of 1000 of children are born with a CHD, of which 25 percent of are cyanotic CHD. In Indonesia, the prevalence is 43.200 out of 4.8 million births annually. The morbidity and mortality of cyanotic CHDs in the National Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita (NCCHK) are higher than acyanotic CHDs. Open-heart surgery using a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machine temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lung during surgery. However, the use of CPB has several negative effects such myocardial injury, systemic inflammation, and reperfusion injury. Preoperative hypoxia in cyanotic CHD tends to be associated with a higher risk of myocardial injury. Myocardial protection has an important role in attenuating those effects. Generally, we use a cardioplegia solution as myocardial protection, but there are several non-cardioplegia techniques that can be used to enhance myocardial protection during cardiac bypass, such as adding an anesthetic agent. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) is the active dextroisomer of medetomidine, a selective α-2 adrenergic, which has major effects including hypnosis, sedation, and analgesia as well as cardiovascular effects. The sedation is induced by stimulating the α-2 adrenergic receptor in the locus coeruleus (LC) in the pons cerebri. DEX also increases the level of GABA and Galanin and reduces endogenous norepinephrine. The lower level of endogenous norepinephrine decreases the afterload of the ventricles, increases cardiac output, and reduces myocardial injury as a result. Furthermore, the peripheral effects of DEX can reduce myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MIR) by inhibiting NF-кB pathway activation and reducing the number of proinflammatory cytokines released. Research related to the priming and infusion of DEX during CPB in patients with cyanotic CHDs who are undergoing open-heart surgery is less reported. The aims of this study are to determine the effectiveness of the priming and infusion of DEX during CPB as myocardial protection by using two different doses compared to the control group. The population included in this study is pediatric patients with cyanotic CHD who are undergoing open-heart surgery using CPB and who classified as 6 to 9 in the Aristotle Score.

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