Background: It is recognized that the inflammatory mediators complement and cytokines are generated during cardiopulmonary bypass as an endogenous response to extracorporeal circulation.
Methods: Nineteen randomized patients (10 steroid/9 nonsteroid) entered an institutional review board-approved protocol to measure complement and interleukin level generation before and after elective coronary revascularization. The steroid regimen involved 1 g of methylprednisolone sodium succinate intravenously before bypass and 4 mg of dexamethasone every 6 hours for four doses during the first 24 hours of recovery. Complement and interleukin levels were measured before bypass, immediately after bypass, and at 24, 48 and 72 hours of recovery.
Results: In the nonsteroid group, there was a significant elevation in all inflammatory mediators relative to the steroid group. The predominant changes occurred at 24 hours after operation.
Conclusions: Steroids produced a dramatic reduction in complement and interleukin levels. The number of patients was clearly too small to document a clinical consequence of steroid administration.